Mouma loses luggage in transit, returns home frustrated, finds it back

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Commonwealth Games medallist paddler Mouma Das today returned home frustrated and angry, after she lost her luggage in transit. The luggage, containing her full India kit and mementos from Australia, was held up by the customs officials in New Delhi airport's domestic terminal. By evening she got an assurance that the luggage will be delivered at her doorstep by tomorrow. "Souvenir bag gifted by Gold Coast CWG had one power bank which Mouma did not check. That is why it was held back. After multiple checks Jet Airways have promised to send her baggage by tomorrow," Mouma's husband Kanchan Chakraborty told PTI.

The veteran paddler tweeted, "Thanks to @jetairways they help me now to bring back my baggage @Ra_THORe ji, @SushmaSwaraj ji, @FinMinIndia @Media_SAI Respected @PMOIndia." Earlier in the day, she made an appeal to the Sports Ministry -- through Twitter -- to ensure that the luggage reached on time before her departure for the Sweden World Team Championship next week. Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore asked Sports Authority of India officials to immediately look into the matter.

"At the moment my focus is on two things -- to get back my luggage and then think of World Team Championships. I don't know, I can't even start training without my luggage. It has everything -- from my rubber, kits, shoes, all the equipment," Mouma, a member of the historic gold medal winning women's team, had said earlier. The 10-member Indian table tennis team was the toast of the nation after winning eight medals (three gold, two silver and three bronze) in the just-concluded Gold Coast CWG, their best ever show, to finish at the top of the order. Mouma had won a gold in the women's team event and a silver in women's doubles. The team landed in New Delhi at 5.30 am today and following a felicitation, Mouma took a 10.30 am Jet Airways flight to Kolkata as her luggage was held back in the transit. According to Mouma, the customs officers claimed that a power bank was found in her luggage, so it was held back. "I never used a power bank, I don't know whether they actually checked my luggage or someone else's. If there was any objectionable article in my luggage then how did it come from Gold Coast?"

Mouma asked. Mouma was expecting the issue to be resolved so that she could focus on the World Team Championship, a quota event for the Tokyo Olympics. "The federation will go for visa tomorrow as we are expected to leave early. I don't know whether I will be around during the 2020 Olympics, but it will be a matter of immense satisfaction if I could earn the berth for the country," the 34-year-old had said. "However retirement has not crossed my mind yet. My body is coping well and as long as I do that I will keep playing."

Mouma and her doubles partner Manika Batra lost to Tianwei Feng and Mengyu Yu of Singapore 3-0 to settle for a silver. Asked about it, Mouma said: "We don't get much opportunity in doubles. Our aim will be to improve our rankings in doubles so that we play World Cup events. "They (Singaporeans) had done their homework well. We later realised from the vidoes that they planned for every point in that match," she rued. After the World Team Championships, the Indias have Asian Games lined up in August and Mouma said it would be a tough contest in Indonesia. "With Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, the contest would be tough there but we have not yet thought about now. We are looking to do well in Sweden and who knows we can create history in Indonesia," she concluded.

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