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CWG: Women’s table tennis squad selection criticised
India No 4 Swastika Ghosh criticizes omission from the four-member squad picked for the Games in Birmingham.
The women’s table tennis team picked for the Commonwealth Games has triggered a controversy with players questioning the selection. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) while naming the team on Tuesday said it will await a final clearance from the Sports Authority of India. CoA said Archana Kamath was picked despite ‘falling slightly outside the selection criteria’ saying that she is a medal prospect.
Swastika Ghosh, India No 4 who was also in the running for selection and was part of the national camp in Bengaluru, claimed she was unfairly left out.
“I am senior India rank 4 and according to existing criteria of selection process I’m No 4, but in spite of that I’m dropped from Indian’s women’s team for the Commonwealth Games team. Please give me justice,” Ghosh tweeted, tagging PMOIndia and union sports minister, Anurag Thakur.
The players named are national champion Sreeja Akula, CWG champion Manika Batra, Reeth Rishya and Kamath. Diya Chitale is a reserve player.
“Going by the existing selection policy both Manika Batra and Kamath should not find a place in the team and Swastika should be in,” said Swastika’s father Sandeep Ghosh.
The existing selection policy gives 50% weightage to domestic performances, 30% international and 20% to the discretion of the selectors. The CoA has come up with a new selection policy that lays emphasis on international rankings for senior teams (40% each for international and domestic performances with 20% for the selectors), pointing to previous inconsistencies in selection, including during the 2018 Commonwealth Games. But the new policy will be effective from October.
The CoA said on Tuesday that the CWG team was picked according to the existing selection policy. It is learnt that even Diya is unhappy at being named as reserve. The fifth member doesn’t even get to travel.
