Table tennis star Manika Batra says she has 'smashed in the Bengaluru zone and is ready to serve up a storm in the 4th season of Ultimate Table Tennis'.
Manika had an exciting tournament at the World Championships in Durban. 'I reached the round of 32 in the singles event and played round of 16 in both women's doubles and mixed doubles. I am determined to improve and excel in the upcoming tournaments'.
She says she gets her pretty face from her Mumma dearest, whose cooking Manika just can't get enough of -- 'I miss you all the time when I'm traveling for my tournaments and training, especially your food', she posts on Instagram. 'I can never find that kind of food anywhere else in the world'.
Manika 'plays to win, to inspire, but most of all, to be inspired'.
Even as she achieves professional highs in her sport, she's been jim-dandying it in the fashion sphere as well, in the table tennis arena and out of it too!
Her fans love her game and it's become a competitive sport just tracking what she shows up in next on the social-media, photo-sharing app.
IMAGE: Girls with stature, zilch tummies and shapely arms and thighs shine in body-hugging stuff because they have a body to hug and celebrate. The rest of us can just dream.
She cuts an elegant side profile -- cookie in hand -- in pastel gym-wear and a long choti.
Her fans have only one condition: 'Just smile every time. (Because) time stops when you smile'.
Photographs: Kind courtesy Manika Batra/Instagram
IMAGE: Two flowers in the same frame.
IMAGE: Thoda sharmana! Thoda muskurana!
Her expressions for the camera are as good as her forehand and both together rack up the 300 k followers.
For a trip to Mumbai's hottest Greek restaurant she opts to wear a denim-tube top-shirt combo.
The jaunty graphics on the shirt match the venue's mood and are all about travel.
IMAGE: Legs for days!
She calls this is her 'La vie en rose' (or life in rose) moment.
IMAGE: The Manika Batra Fashion Era is about muted fashion that leave a lasting impression.
Nothing over jazzy. Nothing jyada. She is a patron of preppy classy outfits.
Her printed pantsuit unveils only a wee bit of skin.
The well-matched subtle beige flats add panache.
IMAGE: She belongs to the Best Dressed Indian Sports Women Club.
Always primed and polished, Manika scatters colour via her athleisure getup in shades of pink and lilac, uninhibited by 'all the beautiful things around her'.
IMAGE: She vows to always play to win, be it TT or dressing.
Her soph persona, in the cute printed dress, bomber jacket, GUESS bag and boots, should scare the dickens out of any/all of her Chinese opponents, she's sharpening her forehand for, on the ITTF World Tour.
Photographs curated by Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com
