Experienced tennis player Leander Paes, outraged by not getting ‘specialist’ partner in men’s doubles, withdrew from the 18th Asian Games. Paes was asked to pair with a struggling single player Sumit Nagal because the All India Tennis Association (AITA) had agreed to join the pair of top doubles players with Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan on his insistence. Paes was already upset with the top plan, but this 45-year-old player kept himself unavailable for Asian Games, where he won eight medals including five gold. “I am saying with great regret that I will not play in the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia,” Paes said in the statement to PTI.
He said, “Despite persistent requests from a few weeks ago, it is sad that I could not join the team of doubles specialist for the second strong duo in the Asian Games.” After deciding to play with Divij and Bopanna, Captain Zeeshan Ali had no option except to pair Paes with Nagal or Ramkumar Nathan. Paes raised the question that why AITA cannot take out two specialists in duo teams. He further said, “Ramkumar is a very good player and I like to play do with him but keeping in mind that he has a golden opportunity to win a gold medal in a single, it would not be fair that I would distract him from his best competition”.
Paes said, “Our doubles specialist Shriram Balaji, Vishnu Vardhan, Purav Raja and Jeevan Nedunchez Xian are doing great in the current season and one of these was entitled to join the team to strengthen the Asian Games team.” “Paes, however, said that his absence would not adversely affect India’s prospects. He said, “Instead of affecting the team’s prospects, I feel that in my absence the other players will be able to play more competitions, whether it is a couple or mixed doubles.”
Leave a Comment