Top Indian paddler Soumyajit Ghosh on Monday dropped from the upcoming player draft for the second season of Ultimate Table Tennis league after being accused of raping an 18-year-old woman. Raj Mondal has been signed up as replacement for Ghosh.
Organisers 11 Sports made the announcement a couple of days after the Table Tennis Federation of India provisionally suspended the Olympian paddler over pending investigations into rape charges against him.
“Since UTT is recognised by TTFI, we accept their decision and have replaced Soumyajit Ghosh with Raj Mondal for the upcoming player draft scheduled in Mumbai on March 28, 2018. With the draft around the corner, the current circumstances do not allow us any time to wait for the decision of the court,” 11Sports’ Spokesperson said.
Mondal, currently ranked sixth in the country, is a seasoned campaigner on the domestic circuit. He has won two mixed doubles titles in the Senior National Championships and finished third in the singles of the last National Games. He has been playing in the Spanish League this season and has won all the 12 matches he has played so far.
The 24-year-old Soumyajit, an Arjuna awardee, denied the allegations, saying that the girl has been blackmailing him after their relationship ended and that the allegations were a ploy to ruin his career.
