Mudit Dani feels Manika Batra's Commonwealth Games performance will inspire girls for years to come

Young Indian paddler Mudit Dani hailed Manika Batra for her excellent performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games event. The 25-year-old women's table tennis player clinched four medals at the multi-sport tourney, the most for any player across the Indian contingent. In Dani's view, her performance will inspire upcoming female paddlers for years to come.

In an exclusive chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda's Facebook page, Mudit Dani lauded Manika Batra for her performances over the last few years.

The Delhi-based player not only made the nation proud with her performance at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, but she also won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles category at the subsequent Asian Games event.

Mudit Dani opined that her dominance at the Commonwealth Games would inspire the next generation of players.

"Not only in table tennis but across all the whole contingent at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, she had the highest medal tally. She had the highest medal tally across all sports for Indians. That is truly inspirational for the years to come, for the younger players, especially girls. It's truly amazing," said Mudit Dani.

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Can Manika Batra replicate her Commonwealth Games performance at the Tokyo Olympics?

The Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to happen in 2020. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the most prominent sports competition in the world got delayed by a year.

Manika Batra won the gold medal in the women's team and women's singles events of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. While the Indian women's team could not secure an Olympics berth, Batra could still make her mark at the Olympics in the singles division.

A huge round of applause for our TT team of @manikabatra_TT & @sharathkamal1 for winning 🥉in mixed doubles TT at #ASIANGAMES2018. Special Congratulations to Manika for becoming the 1st Female Asiad Medallist from India in TT ✌🏻👏🎉 #KheloIndia #IndiaAtAsianGames pic.twitter.com/wjVpDv92qD

— Col Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) August 29, 2018

Besides, she will team up with Achanta Sharath Kamal in the mixed doubles category. The Indian duo won the bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, and fans expect them to qualify and perform well at the upcoming sports extravaganza.