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The Indian Women’s Table Tennis team has landed in another controversy, this time in the middle of their 2022 Commonwealth Games campaign. The Indian team has been flagged for sitting with the men’s team coach during their match against Malaysia. The women’s team designated coach Anindita Chakraborty was not in the sidelines to aid the team. Instead, S Raman sat on the courtside during the Quarterfinal match against Malaysia.
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. This incident has not sat well with S D Mudgil, a member of the Committee of Administrators running the suspended Table Tennis Federation of India. Mudgil has expressed displeasure and has said that he will take it up with the team. "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.
Mudgil, who himself was supposed to be with the team in Birmingham has stayed back in India to accommodate the players' request for sports psychologist Gayatri Vartak, who joined the squad on Monday.
It was an off day: S Raman
Talking about the game, defending champions India were stunned by a little-known Malaysian side in their quarterfinals match. Despite a huge difference between the two sides, Malaysia defeated India 3-2. Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula lost their singles match to give Malaysian an edge. Meanwhile, S Raman defended the team saying it was an off day and the opponent’s combination proved too much for the Indian side.
"It was very close. Combinations were totally different for us. A defensive player, a left hander and right hander mix up was little challenging for us. The girls fought hard and it was an off day," said Raman after the unexpected result.
