The truth, as they say, shall set you free. For Manika Batra (pictured), such promised freedom is proving elusive. While there is always more to the story than the general public can see, even the thumbnail sketch that is known is more than enough cause for concern. Batra, India's top-ranked female player at world #56, went to Doha, Qatar in March of this year for the 2020 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament. There, she claims that her coach, Soumyadeep Roy, pressured her to lose a match to a teammate. Batra then reported what she called an "unethical, illegal and immoral request" to the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). At this summer's Olympics, Batra wanted nothing to do with Roy as she negotiated her way to the third round of the women's singles event, India's best-ever result. Although the TTFI knew of the incident in March, they publicly castigated Batra for not allowing Roy to coach her. The plot thickened further when Batra was requested to participate in a TTFI National Coaching Camp this September. When she failed to reply to the request, she was cut from India's delegation to the upcoming ITTF-ATTU Asian Table Tennis Championships, in Doha, of all places. While the TTFI cites its rules and bylaws, it is hard not to interpret her omission as retaliatory. Now, the matter may finally be adjudicated by an agency other than the one in question. Today, Justice Rekha Palli of the Delhi High Court issued a stay of TTFI's requirement that players attend the national camps in order to gain eligibility for national events. In issuing the stay, the court observed that the TTFI's compusory attendance mandate was issued "at a point when there was a complaint pending against the national coach," the timing and appearance of which "does not inspire confidence," as they so understatedly stated. One hopes that the court will keep digging, and eventually unearth and uproot the systemic corruption which set the unfortunate series of event in motion. Only then, when the truth comes out, will Manika Batra be free.

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