I have become mentally stronger: Manav Thakkar

CHENNAI: Soon after India’s Manav Thakkar lost his semifinal encounter against Thibault Poret in the WTT Star Contender on Sunday, he did not waste any time and went straight to the training area with his personal coach Chris Pfeiffer and India’s head coach Massimo Costantini to understand what went wrong.His determination to keep improving was one of the reasons behind him finishing as the best Indian performer in the tournament. “The biggest takeaway from the event was that I was very strong mentally. I was calm and composed in crucial situations and in two matches, I won them in the decider. This was not the case before,” Manav said after his semifinal loss.“In 2022 and 2023, I lost 11 or 12 matches in the deciding games. I then had a mental trainer Gayatri Varthak and she used to guide me over the phone. After a long time, I am seeing positive results. It is not that I am able to convert all the matches, and the process is still on,” Manav, the current India No. 1 added.After being world No. 1 in the U-21 category a few years ago, Manav has had a steady rise in seniors. He kept grinding and it took time for him to settle and reach the top-50 in the world rankings. What has helped him reach this point is his ‘consistent training’.“I have become very disciplined in my training. The schedule is very tight nowadays, and we have to participate in a fixed number of tournaments every year. Earlier, we used to have off time and time to train. Now, it’s not like that. You have to train and look after your fitness during tournaments. Once you take those off days, it creates a lot more pressure to perform in the events. So, I have learned how to train consistently while taking part in competitions,” Manav added.Manav started training with his current coach in 2023, and Pfeiffer has seen many changes in his ward’s game. “I think he has improved his short game a lot. Earlier, he was always pushing long, trying to play it safe and controlling the rally from a passive position. But now, he also tries to initiate the attack himself. I feel there is a bit more pressure coming from his side. It is not just about winning rallies by collecting mistakes from the other side.It is now about winning rallies by forcing the opponent to make mistakes,” Pfeiffer said.