‘Exhausted’ Manika accuses TTFI of breaching its own constitution in Asiad row

3 min readUpdated: Jun 26, 2026 01:07 PM IST

Manika then stated that she is giving up the fight for now, choosing to concentrate on her campaign in the WTT United States Smash 2026. (Reuters Photoa)

Table tennis star Manika Batra has said that the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) violated its own rules while selecting the Indian squad for the 2026 Asian Games but indicated that she won’t be pursuing the matter any more for now. Batra, who had won bronze at the 2018 Asian Games and is a triple gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games, was named only as a reserve for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and she had earlier asked for an explanation from the TTFI for her omission from the main squad.

She said in a statement on Friday that she was told by the TTFI that a nine-member selection committee had selected the Indian squad for the Asiad. “TTFI, in its response to me, has stated that the entire selection process was conducted strictly in accordance with the rules. However, the documents available with me show that a 9-member Selection Committee decided the Asian Games team, while Article 24(C)(j) of the TTFI Constitution states that no Sub-Committee can have more than 7 members,” she said.

“A 9-member committee decided my fate, yet I am being told that the process was fully compliant with the Constitution and the rules. I will leave it to the people to decide, especially those who have repeatedly said that rules must be respected and followed equally by everyone.”

🙏 pic.twitter.com/W2JAbKcMCx

— Manika Batra (@manikabatra_TT) June 26, 2026

Manika then stated that she is giving up the fight for now, choosing to concentrate on her campaign in the WTT United States Smash 2026. “I am mentally exhausted from this fight, and for now, I am putting my sword down. I have a bigger responsibility today. I am currently at a tournament representing India, and my complete focus will now be on the tournament ahead. To the selected team, I wish you nothing but success. Go and make India proud.”

Earlier, Batra questioned the basis on which players were evaluated, pointing out that she is currently ranked World No. 51 and that international rankings operate on a rolling points system. She asked what period had been considered during the selection process and whether a marginal drop outside the world’s top 50 was enough to render a player ineligible.

The controversy stems from the TTFI’s selection policy, which gives weightage to both world and national rankings. According to federation officials, players inside the world top 50 earned automatic qualification, while the remaining places were decided using a formula that considered international rankings, domestic rankings and committee discretion. Batra, currently three ranking points behind the world No. 50 spot, did not feature in the national rankings after skipping domestic events.