Fresh roadblock for India's Olympic preparations as foreign TT coach 'unfit' to join team

Newly-appointed foreign table tennis coach Dejan Papic's stint with the Indian team could end even before he takes charge as the Canadian's joining has been delayed by at least the next two months due to a knee surgery he has undergone.

Papic had accepted the coaching offer in July after much deliberation but at that time Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary M P Singh said he was not aware of his medical condition.

The current situation has led to more loss of crucial time for the players, who have been preparing on their own for next year's Olympics and are without a coach since the 2018 Asian Games, where India won its first table tennis medal in 60 years.

The unprecedented performance had raised hopes of an Olympic medal.

"Papic will take another two months to recover. Players are losing crucial time and we realise that but we got to know about his knee surgery much later after the appointment process was completed," M P Singh told PTI on Wednesday.

"We have approached