Manika split with coach ‘after patient wait’

Manika Batra. 

Manika Batra has moved to Pune since she has decided to train with Sanmay Paranjape.

For the first time since her split with coach Sandeep Gupta was out in the open, ace paddler Manika Batra has clarified that she decided to end her “professional relationship” with her childhood coach after “waiting patiently for several months”.

“For several months, I wasn’t happy with my training in my previous academy which I had communicated to my coach but there was no change in training. I, therefore, stopped going to the academy for training after Nationals in January,” stated Manika after returning from a disappointing campaign in the Qatar Open.

“Finally, I had to take the decision to quit the training Sandeep sir officially in February 2019. This decision was not taken overnight but only after waiting patiently for several months. After Hungary Open (in January), I told Sandeep sir the reasons for which I wanted to end my professional relationship with him as my coach.”

Gupta had told media earlier this week that Manika, who last year became the first female Indian table tennis player to win a gold medal in Commonwealth Games and earn a medal in Asian Games, has moved to Pune since she has decided to train with a “new coach” Sanmay Paranjape.

Paranjape, a Pune-based paddler, was a part of Delhi’s bronze medal-winning team at the Senior Nationals in Cuttack in January. Manika explained that Paranjape isn’t her coach.

“India Khelega (the academy in Pune where Paranjape and Manika now train) gives me that platform to train. I thank Sanmay and various players who train here with me now and in future,” she said.

“Of course it has been made possible by Sanmaty but that doesn’t mean Sanmay is my coach. I sports terminology, there is a big difference between a coach and a practice partner. I get advice from many ends and I can put it to good use during practice here. This helps me improve my effort.”

‘Still an active player’

Paranjape, meanwhile, stressed that he has no intention of “turning a coach” at the moment. “I finished the last season as the men’s No. 1 in Delhi and am still an active player on the circuit,” he said.