Manika Batra of India (PTI Photo)

In the latest episode ‘On game ‘ Podcast, Preeti Dhaya, Star Indian Table Tennis Player hosted Manika Batra Talked openly about the emotional height and climb of his sports journey. Known for his fearless gameplay and pheny focus, Batra presented a rare glimpse in the experience of vulnerability and pressure athletes behind the curtain, especially in a cricket-fetus country where many other sports struggle for spotlight.play The focus on the stories of women and young athletes of India is to transfer the story. Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!In this episode, Batra spoke openly about his 2024 Olympic Heartbreak, The Toll of Necklace, and raised his new determination in the next cycle. “At the time when we were in the camp, I trained so hard, we really worked hard,” he said. “It feels bad because after working so hard for four years, if you lose, it hurts. I was not satisfied, but I was still happy with my performance. It seems bad that I can’t bring a medal back, but now I have four years for La 2028.” The Olympian also shared what felt to remember its goals on the world’s biggest game stage.“Sometimes it seems that four years are not enough, and even a year before the Olympics, your heartbeat starts running. Last year felt bad to get out of the Olympics – when I came out of court, I spoke to my coach, I was crying,” she said Nevertheless, through his flexibility he said: “At that moment, it depends on how you take harm, what your mindset is. I have to focus on the team matches with me, so I had to focus on it. We played really well in the team’s matches – I would say that it was my best performance ever.” As she looks forward to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Batra remains one of the most bright hopes in India in table tennis. His visit is a reminder that is beyond medal and ranking, it is emotional patience and determination that actually defines the champion.

What can India and England expect from the pitch in Edgbaston in the second Test starting on 2 July? (Image by Matthew Lewis/Getty Image)

As India is ready to go to England in the second test of the five -match series in Edgbaston starting on July 2, focusing on the possibility of offering the surface of Birmingham and whether history can be re -written by visitors at a site where they never live.Since hosting his first Test in 1902, Edgbaston has watched 56 Test matches. In the last 10 trials in Edgbaston, the average-pancre scores have been 334. When India last played here, England successfully pursued a target of 378. Interestingly, the chasing teams have won in each of the last four tests at the site, suggesting that the pitch favor batsmen as the progress of the match. This number suggests a pitch that is flat out early before the progress of the match deteriorates, the batting becomes more difficult in the latter.

Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Udhayanidhi Stalin (image through PTI)

Indian chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Pragganandha has become the most ranked player in the country after winning the Uzches Cup Masters in Croatia. However, the 19 -year -old stated that he is not focusing much on rating points and prefers to take a tournament at a time.Praggananandha defeated the house favorite Nodirbek Abdoustorov with black pieces on the last day of the tournament. With this win, his live rating increased to 2778.3, leading him to the world champions D Gukesh (2776.6) and Arjun Arigaisi (2775.7).Earlier, Erigasi was the Indian at the top, but the fellow came to the sixth position after attracting his game with Indian Arvind Chitparam. In the world rankings, Praggananandha now holds the fourth position. He is just behind Magnus Carlson (2839.2), Hikaru Nakamura (2807.0), and Fabiano Karuana (2784.2), and beyond Gukesh, which ranks fifth.Talking about becoming a top -order player in India, Praggananandha said, “I became India’s number one because of a point. So I don’t think it really means. These one or two digits can go on the way either in a game. I don’t think I will pay a lot of attention to it. I will win a lot or too much for me, I will live a lot or too much. I change the rating point.”Pragganandha was also praised by World No. 1 Magnus Carlson and World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura after being selected by Team Liquid for the upcoming Asports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Reacting to his praise, he said, “It feels good, but I don’t think it will affect me in any way. I will try to do what I am doing, but yes, it is good to see such comments. It inspires me to improve and gives me confidence.”

He also accepted the support received from Adani Sportsline, a partnership that has helped him grow in the last one year.“I have been supported by the Adani Group for the last one year. As a chess players, we need to travel a lot and give a lot of training, and these things can be very expensive because I trained for candidates last year. We needed a team and then the support of the in-tradition was not good for me. I am really grateful to the Adani Group for his support. It is very good to see such corporations coming into the game. This is a good thing for the game, “he concluded.