File picture of India’s main girls’s paddler Manika Batra. FIle
| Photograph Credit score: The Hindu
India’s main girls’s paddler Manika Batra has sought the intervention of the Sports activities Ministry and the Indian Olympic Affiliation (IOA) after being omitted from the nation’s desk tennis squad for the Asian Video games, questioning the transparency and consistency of the choice course of.
In a strongly-worded assertion issued on Thursday (June 18, 2026) night time, hours after the squad was formally introduced, the previous Asian Video games medallist mentioned her exclusion was “deeply disheartening, not solely due to the end result, however due to the style during which the choice standards seem to have been interpreted and utilized.”
The World No. 51, who has additionally written to the Desk Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), the Sports activities Ministry, the IOA and the Sports activities Authority of India (SAI), mentioned no particular purpose had been communicated to her for being omitted of the squad introduced on Thursday (June 18, 2026).
“I respectfully request the Hon’ble Sports activities Minister and the management of the Indian Olympic Affiliation to kindly look into this matter to make sure that the method is clear, constant, and truthful to all athletes,” Manika acknowledged.
The 31-year-old argued that if the choice framework was based mostly on a mix of world rankings, nationwide rankings and selectors’ discretion, “every part and its software” ought to be clearly defined to athletes. She additionally questioned whether or not comparable requirements had been utilized throughout choice cycles, mentioning that gamers exterior comparable rating thresholds had been accommodated below particular issues up to now.
A bronze medallist in blended doubles on the 2018 Asian Video games, Manika careworn that her present World No. 51 rating represented solely a marginal drop exterior the top-50. “I stay very near that bracket… I discover it obscure how this alone turns into a decisive issue outweighing long-standing efficiency on the highest degree,” she mentioned.
Nevertheless, the TTFI’s choice coverage, framed in November 2023 after a collection of selection-related controversies and court docket circumstances, follows a structured points-based system. The coverage allocates 50% weightage to nationwide rankings, 40% to worldwide rankings and 10% to selectors’ rankings.
Manika has not competed in home occasions for the final two seasons, together with her most up-to-date look on the nationwide circuit coming on the Senior Nationwide Championships in Panchkula in December 2023.
The Hindu understands that the nine-member choice committee held two digital conferences on June 7 and 9 to finalise the Asian Video games and Commonwealth Desk Tennis Championships squads, a day earlier than the IOA’s deadline of June 10 for submitting the squads. Whereas the primary 4 locations in each the boys’s and ladies’s groups had been simple alternatives, the ultimate spot generated appreciable debate.
Sutirtha Mukherjee and Swastika Ghosh had been separated by a slender margin within the rankings calculations, whereas Manika, regardless of trailing the pair by round 15 factors, was additionally mentioned for the fifth berth. With no consensus rising, the matter was put to vote. The committee finally voted 5-3 towards choosing Manika, with one member abstaining.
An analogous voting course of was required to find out the ultimate males’s spot, the place Payas Jain acquired the nod forward of Ankur Bhattacharjee.
“This assertion just isn’t about private grievance or particular consideration. It’s about transparency, consistency, and equal software of choice requirements,” Manika mentioned, whereas looking for an in depth clarification of the choice and the weighting accorded to every choice parameter in her case.
Revealed – June 19, 2026 09:23 am IST
