High Court directs TTFI to not send list of women's team for CWG till next hearing

A division bench of the Karnataka High Court has in an interim order directed the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) not to send the list of selected women table tennis players for the upcoming Commonwealth Games till the next date of hearing on a petition filed by a paddler. The petition filed by Archana Kamath is slated for the next hearing on June 22.

The division bench of P S Dinesh Kumar and C M Poonacha in their order on Thursday said, "By interim direction, it is ordered that the selection list shall not be sent till the next date of hearing." Kamath was one of four players selected initially but her name was dropped in the subsequent list. Senior advocate Udaya Holla appeared for her before the HC. Emergent notices were issued to TTFI, Sports Authority of India, and other members of the women's team -- Sreeja Akula, Reeth Rishya, Manika Batra, Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh. On the request of the advocate, the court directed that the notices be sent by email to these respondents.

Kamath is the latest table tennis player to move court after she was dropped from the Indian team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, further deepening the chaos surrounding the selection of the side for the July 28-August 8 quadrennial event to be held in Birmingham, England.

Kamath was initially included in the table tennis squad as an 'exception' as she did not meet the selection criteria laid down by TTFI, but was suddenly dropped by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and Diya Chitale was brought in her place. Shocked by the sudden ouster from the squad, Kamath, the world number four player in women's doubles along with Manika Batra, had filed the writ petition in the Karnataka High Court against the Government of India, TTFI, Sports Authority of India and other members of the women's team.

The CoA had earlier announced an eight-member squad in Bengaluru with the women's team subject to clearance from Sports Authority of India. As per the original list, the selection committee had picked Batra, Kamath, Akula and Rishya in the team with Chitale as the standby.

The men's team included veteran Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shetty with Manush as a reserve. The team selection factors in performances in domestic (50 per cent) and international tournaments (30 per cent) while the remaining 20 per cent is left for the selectors' discretion. However, the CoA has decided to change the ratio to 40, 40 and 20 from next season. The CoA's decisions did not go down well with several players with the likes of Chitale, Manush Shah, Swastika Ghosh moving the court before Kamath.