Chitale files writ petition against CoA-run TTFI

Teen table tennis player Diya Chitale on the podium in Lima, Peru last month

Mumbai paddler Diya Chitale,18, has filed a writ petition against the indefinitely-suspended Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) Federation after not making it in India's Commonwealth Games team (July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham).

The Delhi High Court-appointed Committee of Administrators' selection committee, headed by former decathlete SD Mudgil chose to go with a four-member women's team comprising Manika Batra, Archana Kamath, Sreeja Akula and Reeth Rishya.

"The petitioner submits that despite being an eligible candidate, respondent No.1 [TTFI] has not selected the petitioner in the final list of table tennis players who would represent India in CWG," said the petition, filed by Chitale's father Parag on behalf of his daughter.

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It further said: "To her [Diya's] utter disappointment, however, on June 01, 2022, petitioner came across a newspaper report which suggested that petitioner was being omitted from the list of selected players for CWG and that the petitioner was kept as a reserve player in the women's team selected for CWG. To further exacerbate the situation, one of the players [Archana Kamath] selected in the final list of four players is not even eligible to meet the selection criteria, neither as per the existing criteria nor the new selection criteria."

Chitale won gold in the U-19 girls' singles event of the WTT Youth Contender in Lima, Peru last month. In the final she registered a 3-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-5) win over Colombia's Juliana Lozada in 31 minutes.