New Delhi: Leander Paes will be a sure shot face in the Indian tennis team which will leave for London Olympics as he retained his seventh position in the ATP doubles rankings, but things will not be easy for Sania Mirza who slipped to 12th in the doubles list of the WTA rankings despite her French Open triumph. She will now need a wild card to eneter the biggest sporting event in the world.
A player needs to be in the top 10 list to secure a direct entry into the Olympics and only Paes managed to do that from India.
The AITA selection committee comprising Jaideep Mukherjea, S.P. Misra, Rohit Rajpal, Zeeshan Ali and Sai Jayalakshmi along with two government nominees will decide Friday, as to who between Rohan Bopanna (World No.12) and Mahesh Bhupathi (World No.13) will partner Paes.
With Sania failing to make it on the strength of her ranking, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) is trying hard for a wild card for her. Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg and Liechenstein's Stephanie Vogt have been offered two of the four wild cards.
AITA selector S.P. Misra told IANS that since Sania dropped out of top 10 only a wildcard can determine her hopes at the London Games.
Indian Sports News Network
