Manika Batra was responding to the show-cause notice served to her by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). She said Soumyadeep Roy had asked her to lose a match to one of his students during the Olympic qualifiers.
The paddler added that it was the reason why she refused to take his services as a coach during her singles match at the Tokyo Olympics 2021.
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Earlier, the TTFI had served a show-cause notice to Manika Batra, saying that she had brought disrepute to the game by refusing Soumyadeep Roy’s help.
In a response to TTFI secretary Arun Banerjee, Manika Batra said:
Manika Batra armed with evidence
Manika Batra said she had all the evidence of Soumyadeep Roy asking her to purposefully lose a match. Batra said she would let the evidence out at the right time. She explained:
The star Indian paddler, ranked 56 in the world, did her duty by reporting the fixing approach to a TTFI official. Manika Batra added:
TTFI secretary Arun Banerjee said Soumyadeep Roy has been asked to present his side of the story. He added the federation would decide on a future course of action after the coach’s response.
Incidentally, Soumyadeep Roy has been asked not to report to the national camp until the issue is resolved. Manika Batra, along with G Sathiyan, have asked for an exemption from the national camp in Sonepat. They prefer to train in their respective locations.
Also read: G Sathiyan, Manika Batra out to forge a winning partnership in mixed doubles
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