India’s women paddlers eye improvements in UTT

CHENNAI: At the Olympics, not all results, especially in the earlier rounds, are equal. The record books may say players advanced to their respective third-round matches before bowing out but such a generic statement can lack context.

It’s why the performances of Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula, both of whom penned a slice of history by becoming the first paddlers from the country to feature in the pre-quarterfinals at the Summer Games, were, in its own way, path-breaking. Sure, they didn’t win any medals but away from the glare, a glass ceiling was quietly shattered.

Push back the curtain a bit and their performances at the Olympics wasn’t a one-off, merely a pit-stop in an upward curve. This year alone, all three of Manika, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja — three of the country’s leading women’s paddlers — have beaten three different Chinese paddlers, all ranked within the world’s top five.