Govt and SAI shocked at Leander, Sania and Bopanna pulling out

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 11, 2014: The sports ministry and the Sports Authority of India on Wednesday expressed shock at the decision of seasoned stars Leander Paes, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna to skip the Asian Games, starting on September 19.

Instead, these athletes will now be chasing ranking points and money in the ATP and WTA Tour events. "We have been kept in the dark all along and even today I am hearing only from the media that these three players will not take part," a top official in the sports ministry told MAIL TODAY.

When the Indian Olympic Association initially drew up a jumbo list of 942 athletes and officials for the Games, tennis had named a full complement of players. Once Somdev Devvarman said he would be opting out as his ATP singles ranking was slipping, the All India Tennis Association nominated Divij Sharan in his place.

Yet, with the Asian Games file pending with the sports ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for over a fortnight, nobody in the AITA deemed it fit to inform these two bodies.

"I have no idea about tennis players pulling out. In case Leander is not going, there is no reason why his father [Dr Vece Paes] should be part of the team cleared on Tuesday. I also see no reason why Sania’s mother [Naseema Mirza] needs to go with the tennis contingent as manager," said Jiji Thomson, director general, SAI.

He stressed the AITA had insisted Vece and Naseema be cleared.

At a time when seven disciplines have not been given permission to compete in the Asian Games by the government, the tennis association has clearly taken the sports ministry for a ride.

"We understand that these ranking points are very important for players, but at least we should have been made aware of their decisions well in advance. We don’t ask them whether they are available or not, but once the team is selected we inform them about their selection," said an angry AITA official, who did not want to be named.

Anil Khanna, president, AITA, who is also the treasurer of the Indian Olympic Association, has maintained a deafening silence on the subject.

This is not the first time tennis players are playing truant. Before the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, Leander, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had said they did not want to take part.

Somdev and Sania eventually spearheaded the challenge and managed to win medals.

Yuki Bhambri is the lone player who could make some impact in Incheon as the rest of the men’s squad, comprising Divij Sharan, Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh, will find it tough. With the reserve player, Divij, having already taken Somdev’s place, there can be no more changes to the men’s team.

Minus Sania Mirza, the women’s team wears a pale look with Ankita Raina, Prarthna Thombare, Natasha Palha, Shweta Rana and Rishika Sunkara cleared as members. Snehadevi Reddy is the reserve player.

In Bangalore, Leander said: "I won the US Open last year and made around 2000 ATP points but this year hasn’t been great for me, or Rohan for that matter. My ranking has dropped to 35 and I have to make up for that and play on the circuit," he said.

For someone who wears patriotism on his sleeve and dreams of playing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Leander’s decision to skip Incheon at the last minute is unreasonable.

Captain Anand Amritraj, however, supported the players who have played truant. "I am sure the boys would always like to play for the country but there are times when they have to take such tough calls," he said.

For his part, Bopanna added: "It was a tough decision for me to take. At Tokyo, I won the tournament last year so I have to be there to defend my title. I would always like to represent my country but unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to at the Asian Games because I have to earn ATP points from these two tournaments." Over the years, the AITA has made a mockery of team selection for the Asian Games and Olympics. This time around, there could be tough sanctions in store for it from the sports ministry, for keeping it in the dark.



Courtesy: Indiatoday