Manika Batra, born on June 15, 1995, in Delhi's Naraina Vihar, is a trailblazing Indian table tennis player. Inspired by her older siblings, she started playing at age four and quickly made her mark by winning a state-level under-8 tournament. This victory led her to train under coach Sandeep Gupta, who guided her development at Hans Raj Model School.

Despite numerous modeling offers and a scholarship to train in Sweden, Batra remained focused on her passion for table tennis. She rose to become India's top female singles player and is currently ranked 28th in the world by ITTF as of 2024. Her achievements were recognized with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award in 2020, highlighting her status as one of India's leading sportswomen.

Manika's various accomplishments in the sport include 4 Commonwealth Games medals including 2 Golds, medals at the Asian Games and the Asian Cup. She is also the first Indian Singles player to reach the Round of 16 at the Olympics. She was conferred with the country's premier sports award, the Arjuna, as well as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel award.

Manika speaks about her journey, about going where no Indian table tennis player has gone before, and rising to the top of her profession as the highest ranking Indian women's table tennis player of all time. And in keeping with her generation of sportspersons, she has built the Brand Manika while excelling in her chosen field.