AITA still to announce men’s doubles tennis duo for London 2012 Olympic Games
The All India Tennis Association has not yet decided upon the combination of duo to send to the London 2012 Olympic Games for the men’s doubles tennis event despite the fact that the deadline for the submission of names to the International Tennis Federation will be reached in a few hours time.
The selection process of AITA has been thrown into confusion and chaos because of conflict between Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes, the three top ranked tennis players that India has. Paes holds the top rank among the three while Bhupathi and Bopanna enjoy the second and third ranks respectively.
AITA was inclined towards a combination of Paes and Bhupathi as the duo was most likely to earn a medal in the Olympic Games for the country but Bhupathi refused. The next best combination in the mind of AITA was a pair of Paes and Bopanna but that too could not materialise upon the refusal of the latter.
In response to the refusal of the second and the third top ranked players in the country, Paes issued a statement that communicated his stance of backing out from going to the London 2012 Olympic Games if he is paired with a 207 or 306 world ranked player while another team of Bhupathi and Bopanna is also send to the Games.
Paes explained his stance on the matter in the following words in an email that was sent to Bharat Oza who is the secretary general of AITA, “It would not be acceptable, if with my ranking as the best Indian tennis player, I give up the best option of partner for winning a medal for my country and am made to play the Olympics with a player ranked 207 / 306 in the world while the No.13 and No. 15 ranked players form another team together based on their refusal to play with me. If this is the case, then...I have no other option but to withdraw from the Olympics.”
The president of AITA Anil Khanna has stated that India will send only one pair to the Olympic Games that are scheduled to take place from July 27, however, what combination of players will be announced is still uncertain.
Tags: