Manika Batra: These are a few of my favourite things!

TT champ Manika Batra tells mid-day about her favourite activities beyond the table tennis court

India's first lady of table tennis Manika Batra spends close to seven hours a day training. Considering this, it's tough to imagine that she manages enough time to chill too. But she does, and music and retail therapy are her favourite activities.

"I love to dance. I can dance on any song — Hindi or English, doesn't matter — anytime and anywhere. That's how much I enjoy dancing," she tells mid-day during an interaction recently. "Shopping is another favourite activity. I love dressing up, so I like shopping for clothes. I love good fragrances too and buy a lot of perfumes," says the double gold medal-winner (singles and women's team event) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Bollywood is also right up there, among Manika's favourites.

"My faviourite hero is Ranbir Kapoor... but I also like Siddharth Malhotra a lot," she says. And among the ladies? "I love Alia Bhat. She's a brilliant actor. I can watch any of her movies any time," Batra signs off. Manika is quite a foodie too though she admits that she cannot eat her favourite food often. "I love North Indian and Italian cuisines. Chole Bhature is an all-time favourite as is pasta but since I'm training most of the time, I cannot enjoy them as often as I would have liked," she says.

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