Meghna Ahlawat new TTFI president, ex-champ Kamlesh Mehta secretary

Meghna Ahlawat was elected president of the Table Tennis Federation of India on Monday with former stalwart Kamlesh Mehta elected secretary general. Patel Nagender Reddy was elected treasurer.

Ahlawat, who is the wife of Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, contested against Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghvi.

A compromise was reached between the two factions on the eve of the elections. However, as the deadline for the withdrawal of nominations was over, returning officer Justice (retd) Vineet Saran decided to go ahead with the elections on Monday, according to sources. Elections were held for 25 posts, three of which were reserved for women.

The Delhi High Court had suspended TTFI in February and appointed a Committee of Administrators (CoA) to take over its functioning. The judgement came after woman's India No 1 Manika Batra petitioned the court alleging match-fixing against the national coach during Tokyo Olympics qualifiers. She contended that the then national coach Soumyadeep Roy had asked her to concede a match against compatriot Sutirtha Mukherjee—she was also his academy trainee.

The court appointed a three-member committee to look into the allegations.

Dushyant Chautala was the previous TTFI president. The Delhi High Court had barred members of the suspended executive board from taking part in the elections.

The elections are a huge relief as the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Executive Committee had proposed the suspension of TTFI. The world body's executive committee is currently meeting in Jordan.

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