Selection criteria was diluted as soon as elected dispensation took over TTFI, says Bharadwaj

Are you surprised by the suspension of TTFI’s elected executive committee, again?

They operate in such an inefficient manner. Nobody over there seems to have the motivation to look after the athletes. Our tenure under the administrator (Committee of Administrators appointed by the Delhi High Court) it feels like we couldn’t complete the job, so I feel I am partly responsible.

What has led to such an apathetic state of affairs, with the differences between the president and the secretary for a long time affecting the whole Indian table tennis ecosystem?

If the fundamental approach is not player-centric, irrespective of the personnel you have in place, there is nothing you can do. What prevents a national federation from embracing the new Sports Act and let it evolve into a new structure? It pains me to see most of the executives that are involved in TTFI have been table tennis players, yet they have not prioritised paddlers over board games. E.g. Manika Batra has much more to offer to Indian table tennis. The federation could have laid to rest the differences of the past and a well-meaning official could have sat Manika down three months ahead of Asian Games selection and helped her plan for the qualification. Such efforts to support every promising player will ensure an environment of mutual trust and a sense of purpose. It is incumbent on the administration to facilitate such a conducive environment.

The Sports Ministry in its suspension order has criticised TTF’s selection policy, which was your pet project during your involvement with the CoA?

During the transformative phase (in 2022 and 23), there was such a beautiful approach to the criteria devised for selection. It was assumed that for the junior age-groups, primacy of domestic performances has to supersede internationals because you have to be the best in your country to play at the international level. It also meant that just because a youngster hails from an affluent family, he/ she should not deprive a performing athlete of being a part of the international exposure group. As a result, for under-15s, we had suggested an 80:20 formula – 80 per cent weightage for domestic performances and 20 for international rankings. And for Under-17s it was 70:30.

The minute our tenure ended and an elected dispensation took over, they changed most of it. Especially the seniors. We had suggested 50% weightage for internationals, 40% for domestic performances and 10% subjective. They reversed it to 40% for world rankings and 50% for domestic. Our main idea was those who perform consistently at the world circuit should feature in India’s team for major tournaments and they deserve to be given a bit of leeway from participating in domestic tournaments in an already crammed calendar.

What’s your take on the doubles format being given inferior treatment?

Since most of the major World events have a doubles match – which tends to be the clincher in most cases – I initiated that every National Ranking Tournament had to have doubles events for seniors. Even that has got diluted. All these factors make me wonder whether we are putting the athletes first.

What should be the way ahead?

At the end of the day, a sport with 30 players ranked in top-100 (across age-groups and seniors) should be in a much better shape. But we are struggling to keep our house in order. It’s something that has to be done on a priority basis. In Max Costantini, the government has funded a vastly experienced coach who understands Indian table tennis deeply. I feel his capabilities have not been fully utilised by the federation. Coach development, junior development programmes, doubles academy, etc. are pressing needs to ensure India’s rightful place in the world table tennis order. In conclusion, I just hope that the authorities end up appointing capable and neutral athletes to govern the sport as a part of the Ad hoc Committee to be constituted by the IOA in consultation with the ITTF.

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