Soma, Mou return to 'controversial’ national TT squad

Sonam Sultana Soma and Sadia Rahman Mou are set to represent Bangladesh again in international competitions after serving one year of a two-year ban, but there was more controversy surrounding the eight-player Bangladesh table tennis contingent for the upcoming Asian championships.

The paddlers are slated to fly for South Korea on September 1 with the hope of producing better results than the last edition, with the 26th Asian Table Tennis Championship scheduled to be held in Pyeongchang from September 3 to 10.

The Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation (BTTF) formed the men's and women's teams picking top three players each from national men's and women's rankings while including one male and one female player from the Bangladesh Youth Championships, ignoring the fourth-seeded player from the national rankings.

The 2017 national champion Javed Ahmed, fourth-ranked player after Manosh Chowdhury retired from the national team, alleged that BTTF vice-president Khandokar Hasan Munir excluded him from national team intentionally due to his good relation with Manosh, who has a rift with Munir.

Denying the allegation, Munir said, "I have good relation with Javed, whom I took to the Commonwealth Games squad in 2014. I still say that he is one of the talented players of the country.

"It was not my decision, rather the BTTF executive committee's decision to include a youth player, depending on the availability of sponsors. As Nafis Iqbal and Khoi Khoi Marma are both BKSP students, BKSP is bearing most of the expenditure for these two players," explained the BTTF official, adding that there was another such instance in 1991.

The BTTF had, in the last edition of the championships, picked four players each in men's and women's section based on their rankings.

Meanwhile, Soma and Mou were handed a two-year suspension for breach of discipline during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year when they visited relatives in London, skipping their scheduled matches. But the BTTF, earlier this month, lifted their suspension following an apology letter and considering their performance in last month's national championships.

Soma and Mou, who missed two international tournaments in last one year, still have six months' domestic suspension to serve.

"Asian championships are very challenging for us but we want to see where we stand. We will try our best to produce good results," said Soma.

"Good results mean winning medals but it is not an easy task to win a medal in Asian Championships. If we can improve our ranking playing against China, Japan and other superior teams and can play well against the South Asian nations, it will be a big achievement for us," said Mou, who is supposed to pair up with Soma in women's doubles event apart from playing in singles event.

Munir informed that the Asian championships will also work as qualifiers of the Commonwealth Games. He further stated that they are targeting qualification for the Commonwealth Games and improving their position compared to the 20th-place finish from the last edition.