Arul Selvi, former International paddler and member of the junior selection committee, said the newly proposed selection criteria suggested by the Delhi High Court appointed-Committee of Administrators (CoA) “will shatter the players’ hopes and offer no motivation for them to play the sport.”
While favouring the existing selection criteria, Selvi said: “It gives hope for all income groups to work hard and raise their standards whereas the proposed selection criteria (by CoA) would shatter their hopes and offer no motivation to play TT.”
According to Selvi, table tennis in India is not a rich man sport. “The majority of legends of the sport and Arjuna Awardees and National champions belong to the non-creamy layer group. They have raised their standards through table tennis with existing selection criteria and brought laurels for our country,” she said.
Selvi also mentioned that she has sent her request to CoA highlighting that ITTF (World) rankings should not be considered for age groups in u-11, 13 & 15 as “in the longer run, it would be a great financial burden to spend money in order to get ITTF rankings.”
“For u-17, 19 and senior players”, Selvai insisted, “National rankings be given more weightage than ITTF/WTT rankings.”
While summing it up, Selvi said: ”let's not forget, existing selection criteria helped both non-creamy & creamy layer groups to exhibit their talents and make our country proud.”
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