Mumbai: Manika Batra, India's most decorated female paddler, has been left out of India's 2026 Asian Games squad and named as a reserve by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) on Thursday.
The TTFI's selection committee named a 10-member squad of five men and five women, selecting players primarily based on world and national rankings, as per a TTFI statement.
Although Manika is ranked 51st in the world and is India's No. 2 in women's singles, her absence from the national circuit meant she lost the selectors' votes.
World No.45 Sreeja Akula is in the squad despite being 27th in the latest national rankings.
Manika does not feature at all in the latest national rankings because she did not participate in domestic events during the season.
She is currently competing in the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana and won her opening match on Thursday.
It remains to be seen if she takes any step to challenge the selection, as in the past.
