Manika Batra’s new weapon on the board was first seen at Saudi SMAASH last month. She outclassed China’s Wang Manyu and made it 11-10 after trailing 8-10. The weapon was 'twiddling' at a crucial time during the match which puzzled even the opposition like Wang Manyu. 

Twiddling is rotating the TT paddle to switch grips quickly from backhand to forehand rubbers. Manika has been practicing this technique for the last 15 years, but uses it rarely and always with a hard hit that is seldom effective.

Manika after having assessed her opponent, Wang Manyu, the world’s second-ranked paddler in the Saudi SMAASH anticipated Wang would turn to go for the backhand, and flipped the grip playing pure placement on the block, sending it to her opponent’s forehand. It was risky given the Chinese are experts at countering, and had Manika missed, Wang would have been back in the match at 11-11, and dragged her into a decider. 

The ‘twiddle’ comes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books, named after the near-indistinguishable twins Tweedledee-Tweedledum, and describes the imperceptible grip-switch, played by loosening the wrist on the grip for a quick change. 

While speaking to Indian Express, Manika explained, “I knew the Chinese was going to turn, and just didn’t expect me to twiddle. Honestly, it was very impressive to watch, and I was really good. I saw the clips 5-6 times and the whole match on my flight back.”

Significantly, the loss to Batra might have cost Wang Manyu the individual spot in the Chinese contingent, though she will play team events.