Balgu charts Manika’s top table return
In this series, we look at the bond between some of India’s Olympics-bound athletes and their coaches and find out what makes them click
Since teaming up in 2022 with the 29-year-old Indian paddler keen to rediscover her best, coach Aman Balgu has helped Manika Batra shed her inhibitions and find a fresh perspective
BENGALURU: Aman Balgu ran into Manika Batra in two completely distinct phases of her career. “It’s funny, how life happens,” says Balgu, Manika’s 35-year-old coach.
“The first time I met Manika she was a rising junior player, on her way up. The second time, she was already a star who had suffered setbacks and was on a sort of downward spiral.”
That’s when India’s table tennis star reached out to Balgu.
It wasn’t a call that Balgu was expecting. “I never thought we’d work together. The first time she pitched the idea to me she was already working with another coach but it wasn’t going well. I needed some time to think.” The second time Manika approached Balgu was ahead of the 2022 Asian Cup. They decided to give it a shot for a couple of months. “I told her ‘You’re a top player, so it’s going to take a lot of effort for me and it could affect the academy set-up I have in Hyderabad’. Well, it did affect things a bit but it’s been worth it.”
Since their time together for over a year and half now, Manika has seen her career-best win and career-highest ranking. “I’ve perhaps changed the way she looks at things,” says Balgu.
Manika agrees. “I chose Aman because I felt I needed someone with a fresh perspective. He has helped me become more adaptable, open to new strategies. One major change he’s brought about in me is perhaps reducing my urge to be a perfectionist.”
Free from doubt
Balgu has been testing out a routine to keep Manika free from doubt and distractions going into tournaments. Close to a fortnight before an event, he stops discussing technique, flaws or tweaks. “She’s a free-spirited person. The moment I tell her something is not great it could bother her and she might want to try something new. At times, my approach can cost us. But I think it’s important that she’s just herself, with no self-doubt or too many voices in her head. That’s when she plays her best.”
He takes it a step further. “I’m in regular touch with Manika’s mother and some of her friends. Since they’re all close to her and are obviously excited for her, before tournaments I remind them to just enjoy the matches and not to get too worked up and say anything that might affect her.”
Even when he wasn’t working with Manika, Balgu was watching her closely. He was then coaching another female player, Reeth Rishya, who featured in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. “If Reeth had to become No.1, she had to beat Manika, so it was my job to follow her games. So, even when Manika was going through a decline a couple of years ago, I had an idea of what could have gone wrong. We’re only six years apart in age, so there was no generational gulf really and it was a smooth transition for both of us once we decided to work together.”
The Manika he met in 2022 though was worlds apart from the adolescent girl Balgu knew.
“When Manika was a junior, she seemed to just enjoy the game and not care about much else. No matter what happened the previous day, you’d find her playing the next day just as always.
“But when I met her two years ago, she was a very different person. She was extremely cautious, rigid about many things and was having a hard time trusting people. I suppose in this regard I’ve had some impact on her. I’m a social person, I like to meet people and don’t like to hold any grudges or regrets.
“Her relationship with teammates and other players was quite different when we began working together. It has changed for the better since. Whether it’s attending camps or sparring with other Indian players, I’ve tried to put it across to her that it’s good to train in different environments, rather than limiting ourselves to our comfort zone. She’s a lot more open now, and happier too I suppose.”
Balgu too has gained from the association. “Because of Manika, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to lots of international tournaments and to see how these top nations and their players function.”
Arguments and disagreements
Their relationship, however, isn’t without its fair share of disagreements.
“I rely on Aman a lot and trust his decisions,” Manika offers.
“He helps me see things differently and pushes me to improve in ways I might not have considered. Our equation is more like a partnership. But it’s not like we always see eye-to-eye. We differ sometimes on strategies and techniques.
For instance, Aman might want me to focus on a specific drill that I find tedious or less effective. The disagreements have been of help though. It sometimes leads us to even better solutions than the ones we were fighting over.”
In addition to Balgu, Manika also has Belarussian sparring partner Kirill Barabanov to count on.
She calls Balgu her “strategic mastermind” and Kirill her “rock in highpressure moments”. “Aman’s technical inputs can be a game-changer, especially when I’m struggling to break through my opponent’s defences. He’ll give me just the precise pointers that can quickly shift the momentum. I suppose both Aman and Kirill understand me well enough to know when to step in with advice and when to let me find my own rhythm.”
Manika calls herself and Kirill “foodies”, who’re always on the lookout for new restaurants and dishes wherever they travel, and Balgu the “fitness enthusiast”, one who’s always counting calories.
“This one time, Kirill and I were on a mission to find the best pastries when we were in Europe,” recalls Manika, “and we ended up in this little bakery. We convinced Aman to join us, promising we’d burn off the calories later. The bakery had a ‘bake your own pastry’ session, and let’s just say the pastries Aman baked seemed nothing like pastries. They almost looked like abstract art. We had a good laugh over it.”
When I met her two years ago, she was a very different person. She was extremely cautious, rigid about many things and was having a hard time trusting people. I suppose in this regard I’ve had some impact on her. AMAN BALGU, Manika’s coach