The clampdown on age-fraud cases by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has forced a total recall of the junior girls team by the North Bengal Table Tennis Association (NBTTA).
Even as a few team members landed here for the 76th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships that began Tuesday, the NBTTA which had sent online entries before the last date for the championships, withdrew all names without citing any reason. Some of the players had to return home midway through their journey to this district town.
Talking on the pullout, TTFI secretary general Dhanraj Choudhary said it was an unfortunate happening.
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"But I am happy we are getting the desired results. Maybe it is the impact of the medical board that we have constituted here to go into overage cases. We have imposed strict guidelines to put a complete end to this menace," said Choudhary.
Choudhary added that TTFI have taken a conscious decision following its executive board meeting held last month in New Delhi.
"Our executive board had unanimously decided to suspend all players who have had two birth certificates. As a result, we have spotted more than a dozen cases and intimated the respective state associations. A majority of them are from North Bengal and West Bengal," he said.
Meanwhile, in some cases even West Bengal had recalled some players and instead sent in fresh entries raising suspicion. For instance, Anirban Ghosh from West Bengal, representing PSPB, and Jeet Chandra and his father and West Bengal coach Tapan Chandra.
"We have suspended both boys for now pending verification of the bonafide of their age certificates by our panel," said Choudhary.
At the end of the qualification round in Junior Girls section, 16 teams from eight groups entered the main draw. The pre-quarterfinals will take place Wednesday. Most teams won matches with ease while Pondicherry and Gujarat were stretched full distance by Goa and Chandigarh, respectively.
Singles qualification matches in Junior Girls began Tuesday evening since the Indian team is slated to leave for Shanghai World Juniors Nov 29 from New Delhi.
Junior Girls qualifying results:
Group A: West Bengal bt Punjab 3-0, West Bengal bt Uttrakhand 3-0, Punjab bt Utarakhand 3-0, Group B: Rajasthan bt Tripura 3-0, Tripura w/o North Bengal 3-0, Group C: Maharashtra A bt Odisha 3-0, Maharashtra bt Uttar Pradesh 3-1, Uttar Pradesh bt Ordisha 3-0, Group D: Kerala bt Jharkhand 3-0, Kerala bt Pondicherry 3-0, Kerala bt Goa 3-0, Pondicherry bt Jharkhand 3-0, Pondicherry bt Goa 3-2 , Group E: Telengana bt Haryana Haryana 3-0, Telengana bt Jammu and Kashmir 3-0, Assam bt Haryana 3-1, Assam bt Jammu and Kashmir 3-0, Group F: Andhra Pradesh bt Mizoram 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Gujarat 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Chandigarh 3-0, Gujarat bt Chandigarh 3-2, Gujarat bt Mizoram 3-1; Group G: Maharashtra B bt Delhi 3-1, Maharashtra B bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Maharashtra bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, Delhi bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, Delhi bt Madhyra Pradesh 3-0; Group H: Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 3-0, Karnataka bt Bihar 3-0, Karnataka bt Himachal Pradsh 3-0, Karnataka bt Bihar 3-0, Karnataka bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0.
