A National selector advising his prodigies has raised question marks over probity during the 11Even Sports National Ranking (Central Zone) table tennis tournament.
Subroto Roy, a junior national selector, was seen sitting behind as coach to multiple women’s players during the second round matches. He was seen sitting through Ankita Das’ win over Madhya Pradesh’s Khushi Jain and Sagarika Mukherjee’s thrilling victory against Maharashtra’s Senhora D’Souza.
Roy’s presence in the coach’s seat created a flutter in the sports complex over whether it was fair on the National selector’s part to don a coach’s role when he has been involved in the tournament as a selector.
“I am a coach first, then a selector,” Roy told The Hindu when queried about a potential clash of interest. “Besides, I am a junior selector, so I don’t see why it should be a problem if I am coaching my students in the senior categories.”
Roy is also the secretary of the North Bengal Table Tennis Federation. His wife, two-times national champion Mantu Ghosh, is a senior selector.
TTFI secretary’s backing
Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary M.P. Singh backed Roy. “If a selector is advising players in categories other than the one he is a selector in, I don’t see it as a problem.”
Besides Roy, even Sachin Shetty, who is involved as a coach in India’s junior set-ups, was seen coaching his wards.
It is understood that Shetty’s actions didn’t go down well with the authorities since the Indian coaches had been asked to refrain from coaching, especially for the matches against the players who are a part of the ongoing National training camp in the same complex.