In a stunning display of backhand attack, Manav chose to step up to the table rather than wait back to absorb his opponent’s attacks. He didn’t allow Woojin to settle into the match after the Korean took the first game 5-11. Though he looked a bit nervy in the opening game he came back in stunning fashion to take the second 11-9. The Korean, who reached the semifinal of the Saudi Smash, bounced back to take the third, but that was all Manav, who is in incredible form, was going to give him.

Coach Massimo Costantini appeared to be telling the Indian to attack more on Woojin’s backhand. And that’s exactly what Manav did. He played it across the table, keeping it low to Woojin’s backhand and when the pace was upped, just tapped it down the line to put Woojin off balance. When the Korean managed to return it at an even faster pace, Manav masterfully kept it on the table.

A win over a top-15 player is exactly what the doctor ordered for Indian men’s table tennis who are struggling to emulate the results the women have had. Coach Costantini, earlier this week, spoke about the need to get big wins.

“When you have one big win, you believe you can win against the best. You inspire others too. It has a domino effect positively but for that, you need that one win. Manika Batra did that for the women years ago and look where they have reached now,” Costantini had told The Indian Express

Change in strategy

Post the Paris Olympics, where India lost to China in the men’s team event, Manav had some time to ponder. After talking to Constantini, he concluded that to beat the top players in the world, he would have to tweak his game a bit.

“What I realised and what the coach told me too was that I was waiting for the ball to come towards me. I was not moving towards it.
You can get passive when you wait for the ball and that’s what I wanted to change,” Manav told The Indian Express from Astana.

He first started this tweak at the season’s first national ranking tournament in Himachal last month. While he won the tournament, his new strategy didn’t really work out. He wasn’t successful in singles at the China Smash immediately after, losing his opening match. Then at the national camp in Beijing, he focused on stepping up to the table.

Post the Paris Olympics, where India lost to China in the men’s team event, Manav had some time to ponder. After talking to Constantini, he concluded that to beat the top players in the world, he would have to tweak his game a bit. (File photo).

In Astana, he was moderately successful when he first tried it in the men’s team event where he beat the very dangerous Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan to give India their third successive bronze at these Championships.

Against Woojin in the singles event, it seemed that this tweak just lifted his game.

“Being more attacking means I have lesser time to react. That’s ok because, with this tweak, I don’t need to return balls with very good quality. I just need good placement with normal quality and that will give me points,” Manav said.

Another change coach Costantini asked him to make was to be more expressive. The Italian felt that Manav was too subdued whenever he won a point and would rush back to continue the game.

“He told me to shout, to celebrate and enjoy myself. He said showing some aggression towards the opponent, is good because they feel like you are pumped up,” Manav said.

Focus on fitness

While the tweaks in the game were mostly technical, Manav, over the past few months, has been focusing on his fitness knowing that it’s the key to beating top players. The problem he faced was while travelling for tournaments, there were days when he had a lot of spare time and didn’t always have access to a training center.

A lot of times, he was travelling alone and wasn’t sure what exercise would be right for him to do.

“When certain muscles are sore, you have to do only particular exercises to either work that muscle or not put any pressure on it altogether. Of course, we know the normal exercises, but I felt I needed an expert because if I did something wrong, I could injure myself,” Manav said.

He joined a gym group that sends a trainer along with him whenever he asks. “It’s very helpful when I travel for tournaments where sometimes I just play one match a day and the rest of the time I would be doing nothing,” he said.

So do they work out at a gym?

“Use bodyweight, and stretch bands if a gym isn’t accessible. While I know that tactically and technically I have the game, I sometimes fall a bit short in terms of power and stamina. Hopefully, by working on my fitness, I’m able to improve my overall game,” he said.