TT coach exits, no decision on replacement

Indian table tennis head coach Aleksey Yefremov had last week asked the Sports Authority of India...

Indian table tennis head coach Aleksey Yefremov had last week asked the Sports Authority of India SAI for a return ticket to Minsk as he wanted to fly home to be with his eight-and-a-half month pregnant wife. Instead, he got a one-way ticket to the Belarusian capital on Tuesday, as well as the news that his contract expiring next month won8217;t be renewed.

Yefremov, who had been in the position for the last one year, was grooming the paddlers for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. With a decision still pending on the new foreign recruit, his exit, for the moment, leaves Indian table tennis without a chief coach.

8220;I8217;m flying home on December 30. And I probably won8217;t return,8221; Yefremov told The Indian Express from Patiala. 8220;I have been informed by SAI and the Table Tennis Federation of India that my contract is over, and my services are no longer required.

8220;It was a surprise. All along, I was told that I would work in the capacity till the Delhi Games. I8217;d worked very hard and built excellent relationships, based on mutual trust, with the players. They knew me and I knew them. And now all this has come to naught.8221;

Federation role?

For its part, the TTFI confirmed the development but said it would urge SAI to retain Yefremov. Sources, however, hinted the federation itself might have played a role in the Belarusian8217;s ouster.

8220;Yefremov has been told to go. But we are going to have a meeting with SAI soon and will ask them to retain him,8221; said TTFI secretary general MC Chauhan.

8220;SAI has acted only on the behest of the TTFI,8221; contradicted a TTFI official, on the condition of anonymity. 8220;He Yefremov had nothing to show in this one year. The players were not satisfied with him either. Anyway, we are going to have a new, and better, coach pretty soon,8221; he added.

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And how soon is 8220;pretty soon8221;? 8220;The federation had shortlisted two names 8212; one Swede and another Italian. The Swede has pulled out. Now there8217;s one more Korean in the fray. By the next month we should have a new coach,8221; the source said.