Just 22, Manika Batra emerged as India’s top performer at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Having made the decision to drop out of College to play the sport full time, Batra proved just how good a decision it was by bagging a medal in each of the four events she entered in Gold Coast.
She kicked things off with the women’s team gold when India beat four-time defending champions Singapore in the final. In the best of five clash, Manika won both her singles matches, including one against the world number 4.
Playing as many as five matches in one day, the Delhi girl soldiered on, bagging a gold in the women’s singles event as well as a silver in women’s doubles and a bronze in mixed doubles.
Including Manika’s four medal, the 10-member Indian table tennis team secured 8 (3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze) medals in these Games, which turned out to be the best-ever medal haul in the history of the Games.
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