Allege favouritism in table tennis selection trials for Asian Games
Two Para athletes have accused the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) of unfair treatment as they were not selected in the South Korea-bound team for the Para Asian Games despite finishing first and second in their respective categories.
Sanjeeva Kumar Hajeri, who plays in Class 7 category, and Sonu Gupta, who is in Class 4 category, have alleged that the TTFI has ignored all the selection criteria set by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) while selecting 13 TT players for the upcoming Para Asian Games.
During the trials conducted on August 8 and 9 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, Sajeeva topped the list in his category while Sonu came second behind his friend and India’s no 1 Class 4 player Trivendra Singh. But when the list of 13 players for preparatory camp came out, names of the both the players were missing. What surprised them was the names of the players who they had beaten in the selection trials and were behind them in the list.
“According to the IPC rules, I was second but they have chosen the player who was fourth (Nir Bahadur Gurung, Class 3) in the trials. They said he was the winner of his category and he had beaten two players from the higher Class. I want to ask if he was the only player in his category, how could he be the winner when he is not even allowed to participate in the trials unless he is clubbed with the upper category,” Sonu, who is also a wheelchair dance performer and has performed at Aamir Khan’s popular TV show Satyamev Jayate, told The Pioneer.
According to the rules, if there is only one player in a category then either he be dropped from the team or clubbed with the upper categories. So, the 56-year-old Gurung was clubbed with Class 4 and 5 for the selection trials. In the trials Gurung did well by beating both the Class 5 players but lost to Class 4 players including Sonu, who also beat the Class 5 players and also two Class 4 players. When the trials result sheet was prepared, Sonu was put at number two while Gurung was at number four.
And when Sanjeeva, a primary school teacher in Bijapur district of Karnataka, emerged winner in his category, he wasn’t given the same treatment despite beating Pawan Kumar Sharma, who has participated in four Para Asian Games. He was also wrongly clubbed with Class 8. According to the rules, Class 8 can’t be clubbed with any other category.
“I had also beaten the two players from the higher class and I had beaten him as well. And when the categories are clubbed, where is the question of his category or my categoryIJ We should be treated equally,” the 28-year-old Sonu said.
“I have no issues with Gurung. If they want to take him, it’s alright. But why can’t they take three players when there is a provision of maximum three players in each ClassIJ
“In women’s category, only four girls came for the trial and they selected three of them. But in my category, they have selected only two out of seven. WhyIJ” he asked.
TTFI secretary general Dhanraj Chaudhary said, “It (the issue) came to our notice. We talked to the players and investigated the matter. We found that the selection was fair and nothing wrong has been done to any player. You can talk to Manjit Dua or Indu Puri (selectors). They are reputed sportspersons.”
When The Pioneer contacted Puri, she initially tried to dismiss the matter by saying that she was not “answerable to the media” and “one shouldn’t take up any matter just like that”. But later on she accepted that such an issue did come up.
“I am aware of all these things and everything has been explained. These allegations have no meaning,” Puri said.
“But I can assure you we haven’t selected anybody. We don’t even know X, Y, Z. We are not biased towards anybody. If someone is saying that there was any favouritism or discrimination, they are only misrepresenting the facts.
“There is a system in place. We have submitted all the results. And we are nobody to select or not select. We don’t know how many people the government will clear; how many people are going; how many entries have been sent. That’s for Para people (Paralympic Association of India) to decide,” she added and passed the buck once again because the PCI has no role to play in the selection.
Both Sonu and Sanjeeva have been running after the Sports Ministry, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and TTFI officials for the past several weeks but there has been no respite for the two athletes. They have been promised that there would be no discrimination but knowing that preparatory camp is already going on at the RK Khanna stadium, it wouldn’t take less than a miracle to be in the Incheon-bound team.