NEW DELHI: Manika Batra’s performance in Tokyo certainly grabbed eyeballs but it was her refusal to allow national coach Soumyadeep Roy to sit in her corner during matches which created an even bigger splash back home.
And now, The Table Tennis Federation of India have decided to issue a show-cause notice to the paddler.
This decision was taken during the executive committee meeting on Wednesday.
The Khel Ratna awardee will have 10 days to reply and only then will a final decision be taken.
“We will issue the notice by Thursday. We took the decision today. What she did there did not please the federation and we await what she has to say on the matter,” TTFI secretary Arun Banerjee told this daily.
The 26-year-old’s personal coach Sanmay Paranjape had travelled to the Olympics but only the national coach was given the Field of Play access as per protocol.
While Manika tried to get Sanmay FOP access through the chef-de-mission, the request was shot down by the organisers due to strict Covid-19 protocols this time around.
“This fact was well-known to her and all paddlers involved. There was no need to do what she finally did. It could have been solved in a better way,” another top official added.
Soumyadeep is the personal coach of Olympic debutant Sutirtha Mukherjee, a fact that Manika has brought up repeatedly.
But Soumyadeep has been part of the coaching team for some time now and is a regular fixture at national camps and international competitions.
Another decision taken during the meeting was that attendance will be compulsory going forward at all national camps.
“While safety is of paramount importance, also players cannot just skip camps whenever they feel like. We always discuss what’s best and then only take a call on camps,” the secretary added.
Prior to the Games, Manika had come for only three days while the others were there for the entire duration of three weeks while G Sathiyan had preferred to train in Chennai under personal coach S Raman.