New Delhi: The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) Executive Committee has been suspended for six months by the Delhi HC and soon an administrator will be appointed to look after the affairs in a week. The court found that national coach Soumyadeep Roy indulged in match-fixing during the Olympic qualifiers in March.
Justice Rekha Palli, who was hearing the petition filed by Commonwealth Games gold medalist and Khel Ratna awardee Manika Batra, said that the report of the three-member committee set up by the TTFI to investigate the allegations of match-fixing levelled by the paddler showed that the TTFI “safeguarded the interests of its officials” and that “instead of promoting players, TTFI is dictating terms.”
Manika Batra, India’s star paddler, filed a lawsuit against Roy in September of last year, alleging that he asked her to lose a match so that his student Sitirtha Mukherjee could qualify for the Summer Games. The world number 56 had declined to be taught by Roy at the Tokyo Olympics, claiming that she would not have been able to concentrate on her match if someone who had encouraged her to participate in match-fixing months before was sitting by her side.
Batra denied bringing discredit to the game by denying Roy’s aid when she declined his help in the Tokyo Games singles tournament, according to a TTFI show-cause notice.
Batra had moved courts after being passed up for India’s 25th Asian Table Tennis Team Championships, and she had just moved to 50th in the women’s singles ITTF world rankings, climbing six places.
