Road to medal goes via lengthy pimple

To perceive the genius of Manika Batra, one has to return to the time she was eight years previous. She would be the ‘Golden Girl’ of Indian desk tennis now after her feats on the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia the place she gained 4 medals – two gold, one silver and a bronze – however as an eight-year-old who confirmed loads of promise, she was requested to alter her bat and primarily, her complete enjoying fashion.

The story goes that her then coach Sandeep Gupta requested her to begin enjoying with long-pimpled rubber on one facet of her bat. He felt that this may elevate her sport additional. And it did simply that.

Long-pimpled rubber is basically a defensive choice seldom utilized by the elite professionals nowadays. It principally places the other impact on the spin that the opponent performs. So say, if the opponent performs a backspin shot, when one returns with this rubber, the ball can have topspin and vice-versa.

How does this occur? It’s as a result of the floor of a long-pimpled rubber is roofed with skinny and tall conical-shaped bumps. When the ball meets the rubber, these bumps bend, thereby placing the other impact on the spin of the ball.

Using the rubber on her backhand facet, she switches her bat mid-rally to deceive opponents. The follow-up shot after utilizing the pimpled rubber is extraordinarily essential and that’s the place Manika’s large forehand comes into play.

It was this technique that helped her win the ladies’s singles title on the final Commonwealth Games and likewise lead the ladies’s staff to their first-ever CWG gold. It’s the identical technique that noticed her obtain her career-best rating of 38 in May this yr.

Playing doubles

When enjoying singles, the effectiveness of the pimpled rubber boils all the way down to realizing when to make use of it, how nicely one makes use of it and most significantly, how one performs the follow-up shot. Doubles, then again, throws up a really difficult scenario, particularly if the companion doesn’t usually play with lengthy pimples.

And that’s the problem for India on the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

While Manika is the favorite for the ladies’s singles title, her blended doubles companion is G Sathiyan and her girls’s doubles companion is 19-year-old Diya Chitale, who’s enjoying in her first mega occasion.

Both Sathiyan and Chitale play with attacking rubbers in order that they have to know Manika’s sport extraordinarily nicely as a way to know when she’ll change her bat and use the pimpled rubber.

Sathiyan and Manika gained the bronze medal in Gold Coast and he says that each of them have elevated their video games tremendously since then, be it in singles or as doubles companions.

Sathiyan and Manika gained the bronze medal in Gold Coast and he says that each of them have elevated their video games tremendously since then, be it in singles or as doubles companions.

Though Sathiyan has by no means used lengthy pimples, he informed The Indian Express that it’s extraordinarily helpful to companion somebody who makes use of it.

“Having your companion in blended doubles use the lengthy pimples is beneficial as a result of not many, particularly the boys’s gamers, are used to it. So, it brings out a distinct flavour for us on the desk. We use it to alter methods or to combine up the tempo.

“We use the pimple, which slows downs the pace, and then use the soft rubber which increases the pace. This has been very handy to make our opponents move back and forth,” he mentioned.

Sathiyan, at the moment ranked thirty seventh on the planet, mentioned that his understanding of the science behind pimpled rubber has helped him succeed with Manika.

“My understanding of the rubber is really good and so I could make decisions with Manika on that front. The follow-up shot is very crucial and so I have to know when she’s going to use it. If the ball is too fast and the opponent is far away from the table, she could probably use the rubber to make them move back and forth,” he mentioned.

“We have practised many combinations of both the rubbers. It requires a lot of practice and understanding,” the 29-year-old mentioned.

Teamwork key

Believing they’ll do a lot better than their bronze on the final CWG, Sathiyan and Manika determined to work collectively and develop an ideal understanding to take their sport to the subsequent degree. When requested what are the elements they labored on, Sathiyan mentioned they realised it was crucial they labored on their footwork.

“For doubles, footwork has to be quite different. We worked a lot on that during our training camps in Chennai and Bengaluru. We needed to have a better understanding of where we are moving and more importantly, making way for our partner to come to the table. Moving in a synchronised manner is very critical.”

Not solely them, their respective coaches too labored collectively to chalk out a plan for them.
“Our coaches know our strengths and weaknesses better. Their inputs really helped us understand each other’s games well. And that’s the most important thing in doubles,” he mentioned.

If Sathiyan and Manika have a deep understanding of one another’s video games, Manika and Diya have barely partnered with one another, having only one session in Mumbai final week.

Manika and Diya have barely partnered with one another, having only one session in Mumbai final week.

Diya, nonetheless, mentioned they’ve received alongside very nicely.

“Although we did just one session, it was really good. We were moving well. Manika’s playing very aggressively now so for me it’s just knowing when she’s going to use the long rubber. Having played against quite a few opponents who use the long rubber, I know what to do with the next ball. I think it’s going to be a good debut for me,” Diya informed The Indian Express.