Sumit Nagal will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup under-16 tennis championship to be staged in Gimcheon, Korea, from April 22 to 27.
Though he is ranked No.5 in the under-16 rankings in India, the 15-year-old Nagal is the highest ranked Indian boy in the ITF juniors under-18 section at No.96.
The selectors Vishaal Uppal, Radhika Tulpule and Ankita Bhambri who met under the chairmanship of C.B.N. Reddy, the secretary general of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) here on Wednesday, nominated Garvit Batra, Vishu Prasad and Sahil Deshmukh in the squad.
Eventually, it will only be a three-member team that will fly to Korea, but there will be a camp for the four along with two additional players. The seasoned coach S. Narendra Nath will accompany the team as the captain.
Pranjala Yadlapally is the only player to figure in both the under-14 and under-16 girls teams. The under-14 girls will compete in the Asia-Oceania championship in Kuching, Malaysia, from April 15 to 20.
The boys event will be held at the same place from April 8 to 13.
In the girls under-16 team, the versatile Snehadevi Reddy selected herself along with Pranjala, but the selectors sprung a surprise by bringing the 20th ranked Riya Bhatia, based on her points from the international under-18 circuit.
It was understood that the fourth player in each of the four junior teams would be the reserve.
If the under-16 teams qualify for the World Group stage, they will compete in the Final to be staged in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, from September 24 to 29.
The under-14 teams when they qualify for the World Group, will compete in the Final in Prostejov, Czech Republic, from August 5 to 10.
The teams: Under-16: Boys: Sumit Nagal, Garvit Batra, Vishu Prasad and Sahil Deshmukh. Captain: S. Narendra Nath.
Girls: Sneha Devi Reddy, Ria Bhatia, Pranjala Yadlapalli and Akshara Iska. Captain: Rushmi Chakravarthi.
Under-14: Boys: Nitin Kumar Sinha, Vasisht Vinod Cheruku, Parikshit Somani and Alex Solanki. Captain: Gary O’Brien.
Girls: Mihika Yadav, Pranjala Yadlapalli, Sruta Kirti Gunuganti and Himani Mor. Captain: Sai Jayalakshmy.
