New Delhi: Star Indian paddler Manika Batra has accused chief national coach Soumyadeep Roy of match-fixing during the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Doha earlier in March. She also stated this is one of the main reasons for declining Roy’s assistance during the Tokyo Olympics.
Questions were raised as to why Batra denied having Roy on the courtside during the Tokyo Olympics. She also responded to the Table Tennis Federation of India’s (TTFI) show-cause notice, strongly denying bringing dishonour to the game.
“Besides the need to avoid disturbance due to his last-minute intervention, there was an additional and much more serious reason behind my preference to play without the national coach,” Batra alleged in her response to TTFI secretary Arun Banerjee.
“The national coach had pressurized me during the qualification tournament in Doha in March 2021 to concede my match to his student to enable her to qualify for Olympics – in short- to indulge in match-fixing,” she added.
Roy has been coaching Sutirtha Mukherjee (another female Indian paddler in Tokyo) for a long period in his own academy in Jadavpur in Kolkata. During the Asian Qualifiers in Doha, Batra was pitted against Mukherjee to which the latter won to make her maiden Tokyo Olympics cut.
Batra alleged that Roy asked her to let go of the match in order to make his ward qualify for the Games. World No.95 Mukherjee reached the second round, while Batra, World No.62, made history by reaching the third round in women’s singles.
“I have evidence of this incident and I am ready to present it to the competent authorities at the appropriate time. For asking me to concede the match, the national coach personally met me in my hotel room and talked to me for nearly 20 minutes,” claimed Batra.
“He tried to promote his own student using unethical means under the pretext of national interest. He was accompanied by his student who trains in the private academy not only run by but also named after him. From my side, I did not promise to oblige him and promptly reported this matter to a TTFI official.
“I decided not to obey the unethical command of the national coach. But his intimidation and pressure had its effect on my mental frame and consequently my performance. During the Olympics, I wanted to keep away from the demoralizing effect of such a coach. Because, as a player representing India, it was my duty to serve my country in the best possible way,” said the Delhi-born girl.
Batra also questioned TTFI’s decision not to prosecute Roy. “I have been falsely charged with ‘bringing disrepute to the country by the sight of an empty chair of the coach’. But the truth is that the ’empty chair’ was the result of the national coach’s pressure tactics for match-fixing and TTFI’s inaction to act on my prompt reporting of that incident and not the result of my so-called ‘indiscipline’,” added Batra.
“Unfortunately, when I raised the issue of the match-fixing pressure tactics by the national coach again in my e-mail dated 14th August 2021, TTFI refuted this issue outright without even a preliminary, impartial and transparent inquiry,” she said.
Meanwhile, Banerjee is waiting for Roy to respond. “The allegations are against Roy. Let him respond and then we will decide the future course of action,” said Banerjee. Roy is a Commonwealth Games gold medalist in the team event as well as a recipient of the Arjuna Award. Roy was unavailable for his remark. The player-turned-coach has also been instructed by TTFI that he must tell his side of the story at the ongoing national camp.
