When India’s star paddler Manika Batra made a reference to Soumyadeep Roy, India’s National coach, as “personal coach of Sutirtha Mukherjee” in a media interview during the Tokyo Olympics, it created ripples, forcing the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) to issue a show-cause notice to Manika.
However, Roy, a former National men’s singles champion remains unperturbed. “Why she (Manika) did that is best known to her. I was given responsibility by TTFI. I have been the National coach for the last four years, travelling with the team for Commonwealth Games (CWG), World Championships in Budapest with no foreign coaches. I know my duty,” said Roy in an interaction with The Hindu on Wednesday.
Roy said if there is clear communication between all the parties concerned, things can be done in an amicable manner, like how it happened in the Asian Olympic qualification tournament in Doha in March this year.
‘I know my job’
“In the Olympic qualification, it was very clear that Manika’s personal coach [Sanmay Paranjape] will be allowed to sit for her match and I will sit for the mixed doubles (Sharath Kamal-Manika), and the singles matches of Sharath and Sathiyan. For me, it is better if I know my job. Whatever TTFI says, I will follow,” said Roy.
Roy said he doesn’t have anything against personal coaches per se. “They have a huge role. There should be some guidelines. TTFI should take a call on it,” he said. “Suppose we go to CWG with 10 players, we can't have 10 personal coaches.”
According to the 37-year-old from Kolkata, in the absence of a personal coach at the National camp, the National coach can coordinate with the personal coach and work with the concerned player on the areas prescribed by the personal coach.
Not justified
Roy, however, disagrees with the idea that those in the top 50 in the world be allowed to have a personal coach court-side during a major International tournament. “What’s wrong if somebody who is ranked 70 or 80 [in the world] wants a personal coach. They can still be a medal prospect in CWG or for that matter those ranked in 120s. How do we justify it?” he said.
With the Asian table tennis championships scheduled in Doha from September 28 to October 5, it is incumbent on TTFI to come up with clear guidelines.
