Was forced to approach court: Manika after Delhi HC suspends TTFI in fixing row

Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manika Batra on Friday welcomed the Delhi High Court’s order that effectively suspended the Table Tennis Federation of India following her petition, saying ill-treatment from TTFI forced her to take the legal route.

Manika, who recently broke into the top-50 of world rankings, had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court after she was not included in the team for the Asian Championships. TTFI had excluded her as she did not attend the national camp before the event.

“I’ve the the greatest faith in Indian Judiciary. I have devoted my life for sports to bring glory for my country. I’m grateful to the Govt of India, everyone who stood with me and the people of my country for the support I received,” Manika said in a statement.

“I was forced to approach the hon’ble court when I was left with no other choice because I was subjected to undue pressure and ill treatment which put me into huge mental agony.

“I had to endure very difficult situation just before the Tokyo Olympics. It had adverse affect on my game in the Olympics. My only intention is to get protection for myself and all the hardworking players of India who should be allowed to perform and play for India,” she added.

The CWG gold medallist had also accused national coach Soumyadeep Roy of match fixing during the Olympic qualifiers in Doha in March 2021.

“I’ve only one aim in life, and that’s to make India proud in the field of sports. Sports Ministry and SAI are always helpful to the players and Sports is growing in our Country,” she added.

Manika refusing Roy’s help for her singles matches during the Tokyo Olympics had triggered the sequence of controversial events.

She had said that she was uncomfortable taking help of a coach who allegedly asked her to fix a game.

The Delhi High Court Friday directed the appointment of an administrator to run the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), saying that its faith was shaken in view of the sports body’s “sorry state of affairs”.

Justice Rekha Palli, who was dealing with the petition filed by the Khel Ratna awardee, said that the report of the three-member committee, constituted by it to look into the allegations of match-fixing levelled by the paddler, showed that TTFI “safeguarded the interests of its officials” and that “instead of promoting players, TTFI is dictating terms.”