Manika Batra brushes TTFI's claim of not reporting allegations against Soumyadip Roy on time
Manika Batra lost in the third round of the women's singles event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
|(UTT)
Indian paddler Manika Batra has brushed away TTFI’s claim that she did not inform about Soumyadip Roy’s alleged match-fixing incident. The Indian paddler refused to take the help of national coach Soumyadip Roy during her matches at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which sparked instant controversies.
Footages of Manika Batra playing without the help of the national coach at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics went viral on the internet, sparking instant controversy. However, it only rocked the entire Table Tennis fraternity when the paddler, a couple of days ago, revealed the real reason behind her not taking the help of Soumyadip Roy at the Games.
As per Manika, she did not want someone around her who had earlier insisted her on match-fixing during the Olympics qualifiers. She stated that Soumyadip Roy had earlier insisted her to concede a match during the qualifiers so that one of the former’s students earns a qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Games.Â
Meanwhile, the 56th ranked player in the world was questioned by TTFI (Table Tennis Federation of India) secretary Arun Banerjee on the timing of Manika’s allegations against the concerned coach. In response, Indian player brushed away TTFI’s claim, rather she stated that the matter was conveyed long back, in March. But, apparently, it seems, the governing body has failed to take any actions regarding the same.
"I just wish to say it's clearly stated in my written reply to the notice and letter to TTFI that I had reported about the matter to them long back (in March). "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.I don't know why the false claim is made now of me not reporting it for five months. My reply to the notice clearly claims of my prompt reporting of it,” said Manika Batra, to PTI.
"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," she added.
