The Table Tennis Federation of India has selected a 10-member men’s and women’s team for the Asian Games 2026, with Olympians Sreeja Akula and G Sathiyan leading the squads. The event is set to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 20 to 28, featuring competitions in team, singles, and doubles categories.
In the men’s team, players like Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, and Manush Shah, among others, will participate alongside Sathiyan. On the women’s side, Sreeja Akula, Yashaswini Ghorpade, and others have been chosen. However, the exclusion of Olympian Manika Batra from the main squad has sparked controversy, leading to questions about the selection process.
Batra, who has achieved significant success in previous Commonwealth and Asian Games, expressed disappointment over her exclusion and raised concerns about the transparency and fairness of the selection criteria. She emphasized the need for clarity from the Table Tennis Federation of India regarding the basis for team selection and the application of ranking and committee discretion in the process.
The paddler highlighted her consistent performance at the international level and her current World Ranking of 51, indicating a narrow margin from the top 50. Batra stressed the importance of understanding the selection principles applied in her case, especially considering her track record and recent performances against strong opponents. She called for a detailed explanation and transparent documentation of the selection norms to address the ambiguity surrounding her non-inclusion.
