Ace Indian paddler Manika Batra’s campaign at Tokyo Olympics 2020 came to an end with a 4-0 loss against Austria’s Sofia Polcanova at Tokyo Metropolitan Gym — Table 1 in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics on Monday. It was one-way traffic in the third-round match for the 26-year-old as Batra’s forehand wasn’t up to the mark. What caught everybody’s attention was Batra being without a coach on the court.
Even during her wins in the first two rounds, Batra was without a coach which became a talking point. While Manika’s personal coach Sanmay Paranjape has travelled with her to Tokyo, he is staying in a hotel and is allowed access only for training sessions and is not with the national team at the Games Village.
While Manika wanted Paranjape’s accreditation to be upgraded in order to get him on-court access, team leader MP Singh, who is also a TTFI advisor and is in Tokyo, said Manika’s request was turned down by the organisers.
While Manika was asked to take guidance from national coach Soumyadeep Roy, she refused to do so. “She refused to take guidance from national coach Soumyadeep. She said ‘I don’t want him on my bench to guide me’. I intervened in the matter, tried to make her understand but she was not ready,” Team leader MP Singh (TT) told ANI.
“I said he is national coach, so she replied back ‘mera coach bhi aya hai‘ (my coach has also come). After this incident, the national coach was very upset and he left for the room but I asked him to coach others,” he added.
Roy, who is a member of the gold-winning men’s team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and has been a longtime teammate to India’s table tennis legend Sharath Kamal, was however present on the court during Sharath and Manika’s round of 16 match in mixed doubles.
Earlier, playing against Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska, Batra produced a brilliant comeback to become the first Indian table tennis player to qualify for the third round of singles at the Olympics. Her campaign came to an end after her loss against Polcanova and the lack of a coach on court definitely would have made an impact on her game.
