Sharath Kamal on COA's new selection criteria: Don't rush with the changes

The paddlers cannot afford expenses for WTT/ITTF tournaments abroad and want their best domestic performances to be taken into account for national selection.

India’s top player Sharath Kamal has suggested that ideally the criteria suggested by COA shouldn’t be executed right away.

The Committee of Administrators' proposed new selection criteria for paddlers getting into the Indian Nationals teams has set the cat among the pigeons.

Some of the top players, including the juniors, who have done well in the domestic ranking tournaments and are within the top 16 in the country, have reportedly mailed the COA opposing the criteria.

The players cannot afford expenses for WTT/ITTF tournaments abroad and want their best domestic performances to be taken into account for national selection.

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The senior players do not want their performances to go down the drain in the year of the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. “Now it is skewed in favour of world ranking and the importance of domestic performance has lessened,” they said.

India’s top player Sharath Kamal has suggested that ideally the criteria suggested by COA shouldn’t be executed right away and if done, it should be discussed threadbare by a selection committee. There is no clarity from the COA on whether the selection points and world ranking criteria will matter in the CWG.

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Speaking to Sportstar on Wednesday after PSPB’s quarterfinal contest in the Senior National and Inter-State table tennis championships, Sharath said: “You need to give time for any change to happen. For some players, it [the proposed selection criteria] can be fair and for some others unfair. I would suggest that at least a good selection committee is formed.”

Sharath further said: "It is already complicated with the new world rankings system being frozen now, and then slowly getting unfrozen. Let’s make it simpler. I think we need to see if this system [proposed selection criteria] is full-proof or not. Don't rush with the changes," he said.