Paes, Bhupathi, AITA & their egos may rob India its chances of winning a medal in London Olympics

Mistrust, incompatibility and personal egos of players including Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and the Indian tennis body AITA, seem to rob India the chances of winning medal in London Olympics in just not one but two disciplines.  According to a report in The Times Of India, amid the washing of dirty linen, ego battles and emotional outbursts over which tennis players should represent India in the men’s doubles at the London Olympics, what’s being forgotten is that medals in two disciplines, not one, are at stake — the men’s doubles and the mixed doubles.

“With Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza having won this year’s French Open title together, the mixed doubles pair seems to be a better bet for a medal. However, here comes the twist. The ITF guidelines for Olympic eligibility for the mixed doubles (draw of 16) states that ‘each pair must already be playing in the singles and/or doubles events’.  This means that India’s participation in the mixed doubles is subject to the 25-year-old Sania getting a wildcard entry in either the singles or the women’s doubles. If Sania gets lucky, Bhupathi should also be playing men’s doubles in the Olympics to be eligible to pair with her,” says the report.

Sania, whose doubles world ranking of No.12 falls just outside the top 10 which would have gained the Hyderabadi an automatic berth into the women’s doubles, will now have to wait until June 28 to hear from the International Tennis Federation of her wildcard chances in either singles or doubles (with Chennai veteran Rushmi Chakravarthi).

Meanwhile, after a meeting with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Tuesday, sports minister Ajay Maken clarified that the decision to choose a men’s doubles team for the Olympics lies with the federation and that the government would not advice them any further. “The sports ministry does not wish to be part of selection process. We had raised certain issues because of requests from certain iconic players,” Maken said in a statement, says a report in The Indian Express.

Maken had sought an explanation on Monday after the tennis body had decided to send just one team to the London Games while ignoring the ranking combination of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna. In its reply, the AITA said that sending the above pair would be an ‘insult’ to Leander Paes, who is currently India’s highest ranked doubles player. “Asking Leander, the India No. 1 player to partner a junior player would be the most inappropriate decision and will be deemed an insult to Paes who enjoys great respect in the International Tennis Circuit,” the AITA letter to the ministry noted.