Commonwealth Games: India TT squad courts controversy as men's coach sits for women's quarter-final tie

Birmingham: The Indian table tennis team has courted another controversy and this time it has surfaced in the middle of their Commonwealth Games campaign.

Commonwealth Games: India schedule , Results , Medals tally

India, who went into the tournament as defending champions in the women’s team event, were stunned by the little-known Malaysian side in the quarterfinals.

Such was the contrast between the two teams that some of the Malaysian players do not even feature in the world rankings.

The designated women’s coach of the Indian team, Anindita Chakraborty, was conspicuous by her absence in the knockout fixture. Instead, men’s coach S Raman sat on the courtside.

“This should not have happened, women’s coach should have been guiding the players in the match. I will take this up with the team,” said S D Mudgil, member of the Committee of Administrators running the suspended Table Tennis Federation of India.

Mudgil, who was supposed to be the team manager of the Indian team in Birmingham, has stayed back in India to accommodate the players’ request for sports psychologist Gayatri Vartak, who joined the squad on Monday.

Raman, who happens to be the personal coach of male player G Sathiyan, was seen coaching Reeth Rishya as the quarterfinal went down to the wire.

After the shocking loss, the Manika Batra-led squad did not even stop for the media interaction, which is a standard protocol in all multi-sporting events.

“It was very close. Combinations were totally different for us. A defensive player, a left-hander, and a right-hander mix-up was a little challenging for us. The girls fought hard and it was an off day,” said Raman after the unexpected result. Malaysia have reached the gold medal clash.

Ahead of the Games, three India players had approached the court against their non-selection in the CWG squad. One of them, Diya Chitale, got successful and was included in the team.

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