Indian table tennis players meet CoA

The Table Tennis Committee of Administrators (CoA) met the Indian team participating in the WTT Contender in Muscat prior to their departure on Friday.

This is the first time the Indian team is taking part in an international tournament after the Delhi High Court suspended the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and appointed the CoA to look after the affairs of the federation.

After having cleared the Indian team and other paddlers for the WTT Contender in Oman beginning February 27, the CoA organized a virtual meeting with the players bound for Muscat.

Read: Indian table tennis players gear up for WTT Contender

The players who attended the meeting were Anthony Amalraj, G. Sathiyan, Sanil Shetty, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah, Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Reeth Rishya, Diya Chitale, Akula Sreeja and Ayhika Mukherjee, besides the two coaches, Arup Basak and Subhajit Saha.

CoA motivates table tennis players

Chairperson and retired justice Gita Mittal, in the company of other members Chetan Mittal and S.D. Mudgil, interacted with the athletes. During the 30-minute meeting, joined by chief national coach Manjit Singh Dua, the chairperson sought to know the players’ plans for the impending Commonwealth and Asian Games, besides asking for their suggestions.

“We are here to help you in whatever way possible. We don’t want you to be hindered in any way and concentrate on the job at hand — playing well to win medals for the country,” said the chairperson.

During the interaction, the chairperson also got more information about the players' equipment, including the ply and rubbers.

Earlier, the Indian team's chief national coach Manjit Dua introduced the players to the CoA, extolling their performance and how hard they have come up the ladder to bring laurels to the country.

The CoA has also lined up a meeting with the TTFI panel of coaches on Sunday to have a face-to-face interaction to understand the pulse of their capabilities.