Picture Credit: Twitter
A lot of drama and controversy has been taking place in the sport of Table Tennis in country over last few months. It all started when star player Manika Batra was seen playing at Tokyo Olympics in 2021, without a coach by her side. Following the end of Games, the 26-year-old had made a shocking revelation, which had left everyone absolutely stunned.
“The national coach (Soumyadeep Roy) 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 to his student to enable her to qualify for Olympics – in short- to indulge in match-fixing," said Manika.
She had revealed that she has evidence of this incident and she was 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,” she had added.
READ MORE | “National coach had pressurized me to indulge in match-fixing” – Manika Batra makes a shocking revelation
The 26-year-old had also put up huge allegations on Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), claiming that she was falsely charged by them for bringing disrepute to the country.
She went on to say that she had raised the issue to federation of match fixing pressure tactics by the national coach in her e-mail dated 14th August 2021, but TTFI refuted the issue outright without even a preliminary, impartial and transparent inquiry.
Manika had eventually filed a case and Delhi High Court have finally announced their decision on Friday. In a judgement which has left everyone in shock, Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has been suspended for 6 months and an administrator has been appointed to handle the case further. In addition, national coach Soumyadeep Roy has also been found guilty of match fixing.
It is indeed going to be intriguing to see how things unfold from here on and how it affects all the Table Tennis players (including Manika Batra) in the country with so many important events scheduled in coming months.