Table tennis star Manika Batra has alleged that national coach Soumyadeep Roy asked her to throw a match during the Olympic qualifiers in March and that was the main reason she refused his help in the singles competition of the Tokyo Games.

Responding to Table Tennis Federation of India’s show cause notice, Manika strongly denied that she brought disrepute to the game by refusing Roy’s help. According to TTFI sources, the world number 56 stated she would not have been able to focus on her match if someone who asked to her indulge in match-fixing months earlier was sitting by her side.