The writ petitions filed by Indian table tennis players Manush Shah and Swastika Ghosh contesting their removal from the country’s Commonwealth Games team were rejected by the Delhi High Court on Monday.
After being omitted from the final CWG squad earlier this month, Shah and Ghosh had sought the court in an effort to appeal the decision of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which ran the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and was responsible for administering the organization. According to Manush’s father Utpal, who spoke to PTI about the matter, “I was informed by our counsel that our lawsuit has been dropped.”
Even though Manush finished in the top four according to the criteria established by the CoA, the selectors decided not to include him on the men’s squad. Sharath Kamal, a seasoned player, G. Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, and Sanil Shetty were members of the men’s team, while Manush served as a reserve.
The amended women’s squad will now consist of Manika Batra, Chitale, Reeth Rishya, and Sreeja Akula. Swastika, who is 19 years old, will serve as a backup for the team. Archana Kamath, the second highest-ranked Indian player at 66th after Manika Batra (39th), had also moved the court after being cut from the Indian squad for the 2019 Commonwealth Games. Manika Batra was the highest-ranked player on the Indian team. The preliminary hearing for her case is scheduled to take place on June 22 at the Karnataka High Court.
Archana was originally included in the squad as an “exception,” despite the fact that she did not match the selection standards outlined by TTFI. However, the CoA made the unexpected decision to remove her from the team, and Diya Chitale was brought in to take her place. It is interesting to note that Chitale had also approached the court after first being denied membership in the team. From the 28th of July to the 8th of August, the CWG is planned to take place in Birmingham.
