Young table tennis player Dia Chitale was included in the Indian table tennis team for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Tuesday i.e. 7 May 2022 in place of Archana Kamath. Dia Chitale was not included in the Indian women’s table tennis team earlier. After this he approached the Delhi High Court. However, Manush Shah, who filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court, is still kept as a reserve player. This means that there has been no change in the Indian men’s table tennis team selected for the Commonwealth Games. The Indian men’s team will be led by Sharath Kamal. The 22nd Commonwealth Games are to be played in Birmingham, England from 28 July to 8 August 2022.
The Committee of Administrators (CoA), which governs the suspended Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), announced a provisional women’s team last week. 19-year-old Diya Chitale was kept on standby along with Manika Batra, Archana Kamath, Sreeja Akula and Reeth Rishi in that team. The team was yet to get the approval of the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Meanwhile, putting the ball in the court of the CoA, the Sports Ministry on Monday clarified that the responsibility of team selection rests with the national federation.
After this, a meeting of the selection committee was held on Monday under the chairmanship of CoA member SD Mudgal. The team was finalized in that meeting. Archana Kamath was dropped. Archana Kamath could play in the women’s doubles with Manika Batra, while Swastika Ghosh was kept on standby.
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SD Mudgal told PTI, ‘Only one change has been made. Diya has been roped in as the fourth player in place of Archana. Archana doesn’t meet the criteria, but we thought she might also win a medal as she is at number four in the world rankings along with Manika. We were in a dilemma and so we went to Sai and sought his guidance.’
“Ultimately the selectors decided to include Diya Chitale. He has also done well in domestic and international events. She will play in women’s doubles with Manika. Teams are as follows: Men: Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty, Manush Shah (standby). Female: Manika Batra, Diya Chitale, Reeth Rishya, Sreeja Akula, Swastika Ghosh (standby).