Manika Batra seeks intervention of Sports Ministry after exclusion

India’s leading women’s paddler Manika Batra has sought the intervention of the Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after being omitted from the country’s table tennis squad for the Asian Games, questioning the transparency and consistency of the selection process.

In a strongly-worded statement issued on Thursday (June 18, 2026) night, hours after the squad was officially announced, the former Asian Games medallist said her exclusion was “deeply disheartening, not only because of the outcome, but because of the manner in which the selection criteria appear to have been interpreted and applied.”

The World No. 51, who has also written to the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), the Sports Ministry, the IOA and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), said no specific reason had been communicated to her for being left out of the squad announced on Thursday (June 18, 2026).

“I respectfully request the Hon’ble Sports Minister and the leadership of the Indian Olympic Association to kindly look into this matter to ensure that the process is transparent, consistent, and fair to all athletes,” Manika stated.

The 31-year-old argued that if the selection framework was based on a combination of world rankings, national rankings and selectors’ discretion, “each component and its application” should be clearly explained to athletes. She also questioned whether similar standards had been applied across selection cycles, pointing out that players outside comparable ranking thresholds had been accommodated under special considerations in the past.

A bronze medallist in mixed doubles at the 2018 Asian Games, Manika stressed that her current World No. 51 ranking represented only a marginal drop outside the top-50. “I remain very close to that bracket... I find it difficult to understand how this alone becomes a decisive factor outweighing long-standing performance at the highest level,” she said.

However, the TTFI’s selection policy, framed in November 2023 after a series of selection-related controversies and court cases, follows a structured points-based system. The policy allocates 50% weightage to national rankings, 40% to international rankings and 10% to selectors’ ratings.

Manika has not competed in domestic events for the last two seasons, with her most recent appearance on the national circuit coming at the Senior National Championships in Panchkula in December 2023.

The Hindu understands that the nine-member selection committee held two virtual meetings on June 7 and 9 to finalise the Asian Games and Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships squads, a day before the IOA’s deadline of June 10 for submitting the squads. While the first four places in both the men’s and women’s teams were straightforward selections, the final spot generated considerable debate.

Sutirtha Mukherjee and Swastika Ghosh were separated by a narrow margin in the rankings calculations, while Manika, despite trailing the pair by around 15 points, was also discussed for the fifth berth. With no consensus emerging, the matter was put to vote. The committee eventually voted 5-3 against selecting Manika, with one member abstaining.

A similar voting process was required to determine the final men’s spot, where Payas Jain got the nod ahead of Ankur Bhattacharjee.

“This statement is not about personal grievance or special consideration. It is about transparency, consistency, and equal application of selection standards,” Manika said, while seeking a detailed explanation of the decision and the weighting accorded to each selection parameter in her case.

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