NEW DELHI: On Saturday, India’s top female paddler Manika Batra became the first table tennis player in the country to claim the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. It was a proud moment for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist but prior to the awards ceremony, a lot of eyebrows were raised when her name appeared as one of the recipients of the award.
This daily caught up with the Asian Games bronze medallist and the 25-year-old shed some light on her reactions post the announcement, why she feels her inclusion is justified and her training plans. Excerpts.
How does it feel to win the Khel Ratna, a couple of years after Arjuna Award? Did you expect to win?
It feels very special. I’m really happy that everybody is taking notice of the sport and so many paddlers are winning awards and I want to thank the government, TTFI, all my sponsors and all my fans for keeping me motivated. The award is a timely reminder to keep working hard and it has motivated me even more to achieve further for the country.
Yes, I think I deserved the award because of my performances but I also know there is a lot more left to achieve and I promise to work harder than ever before as I know people will be expecting a lot more from me now. I’m ready to shoulder those hopes and dreams.
There was discontent when your name was announced. How did you deal with it?
Honestly, I have not been paying attention to what people were saying behind my back. You have to understand that I did not recommend my own name but the selection committee did.
My job is to perform for the country and the rest will take care of itself. Ever since the announcement, I have been working extra hard at the India Khelega centre in Pune, In fact, I trained double yesterday (Friday) as I knew I would be missing a majority of the training scheduled for today!
The pressure on you to do well in the upcoming Olympics will now shoot through the roof. How do you plan to cope?
It is bound to increase but is is important to remember that all of us have performed well in recent years which has led to people expecting from table tennis players. I will adapt to this increased responsibility as it is a privilege. The majority of this year was unfortunately disrupted due to the pandemic and all I could concentrate was on fitness initially.
Now that I have returned to full-fledged training, I’m trying to keep myself occupied all the time and not focus on what is out of my control like resumption of events.
There are plans to have a national camp in Bengaluru. Will you be travelling as and when it happens?
Travelling currently is a risk and it is of paramount importance to stay fit and healthy now. I believe in these trying times, athletes should be given the freedom to choose whether to travel or not.