Unceremoniously dumped from the Rio Olympics squad last week, a crestfallen Ritu Rani has hit back at Hockey India selectors and dismissed the allegations of poor attitude and performance levelled against her as false and baseless.
"The news came as a shock to me. I had no issues of fitness or attitude at all. No explanation was given to me properly as to why I have been dropped," said Rani, who who was instrumental in guiding the Indian women's team to seal an Olympic berth after a 36-year hiatus.
"I didn't leave any training or camps, I got engaged when the camp was on a break."
Hockey India named Sushila as the skipper in place of Ritu Rani who was dropped from the squad by the selectors due to her poor form and attitude problems.
The 24-year-old Rani pointed out that although Sardar Singh is also facing issues off the field he has received better support from Hockey India. Sardar Singh lost his captaincy to PR Sreejesh as a result of his dip in form in recent times.
"I feel playing hockey for all these years has been useless. My fiance is hugely upset. Sardar Singh is also facing personal problems, his captaincy has been taken away as well, but he is still in the team as he deserves to be. Then why this treatment with me?" said Rani in an interview to a television channel.
"It's wrong to make false allegations. I don't think I will be able to watch the Olympic matches on TV," Ritu added, while breaking down on live television.
