India’s main desk tennis participant Harmeet Desai feels he has been “unfairly” ignored of the singles competitors for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou. Harmeet, an essential member of the Indian desk tennis staff during the last 10 years, has been picked within the Asian Games squad however will solely function in staff and combined doubles occasions. Veteran Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan have been picked forward of Desai for the singles competitors as solely two entries are allowed. “It is going to be my third Asian Games and as per the selection criteria, which includes both domestic and international performances, I should be playing singles as well and not just team and doubles,” Harmeet instructed PTI.

The 29-year-old from Surat on Tuesday grew to become the highest-ranked Indian behind a productive final month when he reached the semifinals of the WTT Contender in Lagos and pre-quarterfinals in WTT Contender in Tunis.

He additionally beat two top-20 gamers alongside the way in which. He is now ranked 64 forward of Sharath (69) and Sathiyan (88). However, when the staff was picked on June 27, Desai (71) was behind Sharath (54) and Sathiyan (60) within the ITTF rankings.

As per the choice standards of Table Tennis Federation of India, 50 % weightage is given to home performances, 40 % to worldwide and 10 % is left for selectors’ discretion.

TTFI secretary normal Kamlesh Mehta stated the choice of the choice committee was unanimous and gamers had been picked for the singles occasion as per the worldwide rankings on the time of choice .

“It was a unanimous call taken by the selectors who factored in the world rankings at the time of selection,” stated Mehta, himself a former India participant and Arjuna awardee.

The deadline to submit participant entries to Indian Olympic Association was June 30 and July 15 for sending them to the Olympic Council of Asia.

Another federation official who’s monitoring the matter stated the present choice coverage is in place for selecting the squad and entries for particular person occasions are despatched as per the worldwide rankings.

Harmeet’s house state affiliation of Gujarat has additionally written to TTFI expressing its disappointment over the participant’s non-selection for the singles occasion.

“The current non-selection of Harmeet Desai coupled with his omission in CWG 2022 men’s Singles event disregarding his ranking and performance has jolted him and has come as a shocker for us at the State Association,” Pramod Chaudhary, president of Gujarat State Table Tennis Association, stated within the letter dated July 9.

“Harmeet, who is in his prime form, is bound to put in his superlative efforts and performance representing the country and disregarding all the positives at this stage would be a big dampener.

“As per the knowledge, the final date for sending entries by Indian Olympic Association to Organising Committee of Asian Games is fifteenth July, 2023.

“Hence, we hope that the selection of players done can be amended and players can be selected based on their current rankings and performances,” he additional added.

Harmeet, Sharath and Sathiyan had been a part of the Asian Games squad that made historical past on the earlier version in Jakarta the place India ended a 60- yr look ahead to a medal by securing a bronze within the staff occasion.

Sharath and Manika Batra made the marketing campaign extra memorable by securing a bronze in combined doubles.

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games final yr, a number of Indian gamers together with Manush Shah, Archana Kamath, Swastika Ghosh and Diya Chitale had approached the courtroom after not being picked within the India squad. Only Chitale managed to get TTFI’s resolution overturned.