New Delhi, May 29 (H.S.): India’s star table tennis player Manika Batra has withdrawn from the sixth edition of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) due to injury. Ayhika Mukherjee will now replace her in the Ahmedabad SG Pipers team.

Manika Batra recently sustained an injury during the 2025 Table Tennis World Championship. She is currently undergoing rehabilitation. Manika faced defeat in the first round of the tournament, where she lost to the lower-ranked Korean player Park Ga-hyun (ranked 64) in the round of 64. At that time, Manika's world ranking was 46, which has now dropped to 47.

In the first-ever auction of UTT, Manika Batra was included in the Ahmedabad SG Pipers team. Previously, she played for the PBG Pune Jaguars, who released her.

Manika's absence may impact the team. However, there are other important players in the team, including Ricardo Walther, SFR Snehith, Georgia Picolin, Divyansh Srivastava, and Yashini Shivshankar.

Ayhika Mukherjee, who remained unsold in the UTT auction, is now set to take Manika's place. This will be a significant opportunity for her, but at the same time, replacing a star player like Manika will be a major challenge for her.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar