Rohan Bopanna cleared a lot of suspense with regard to India’s tennis entries for Rio Olympics, by reaching No. 10 in doubles ranking, but opted to stay quiet till the selectors announce the Indian squad on June 11.
With Leander Paes, gunning for his seventh Olympics, having slipped to No. 46 in the world, it was important for Bopanna to be in the top 10 on the cut-off date, and thus assure India of a men’s doubles entry.
Even though the 36-year-old Bopanna may have the choice of partners, ranging from Paes, Purav Raja (103), Divij Sharan (114), Saketh Myneni (125), Jeeevan Nedunchezhiyan (134), Mahesh Bhupathi (164), Yuki Bhambri (147 singles), etc., it is clear that there will not be any selection drama this time.
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With Yuki and Saketh recovering from injuries and lacking the exposure at the highest level, it will be a practical choice that Bopanna would play with the 42-year-old Paes, even though he may be holding his cards close to his chest at the moment.
Equally, it is clear that World No.1 Sania Mirza would play with Bopanna as that would be the only team that stands a chance of getting into the small mixed doubles draw of 16 for the Olympics.
The most important factor is that the ranking of players of June 6 would be considered for entry into the mixed doubles draw, which would be on site from among the players available for singles and doubles.
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No wild card entries
Unlike earlier times, there are no wild card entries for tennis this time in the Olympics.
Moreover, the four ITF places, apart from 12 direct acceptances in mixed doubles, would only be based on two factors —host country representation and regional representation.
If there are vacancies, after meeting these requirements, these will be allocated to the next best-ranked team based on the international singles and doubles rankings of 6 June 2016, not already qualified, spells the ITF qualification system for Olympics.
So, even if she wants, Sania may not be able to play with Leander Paes in the Rio Olympics.
It may be recalled that Sania and Paes, who had partnered first time in the Busan Asian Games and won the bronze in 2002, had teased the top seeds and eventual gold medallists, Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus, on grass in Wimbledon in the quarterfinals of mixed doubles in the London Olympics, before going down 5-7, 6-7(5). They were ranked 18 and 5 respectively at that time.
The only point of interest for the selectors could be the doubles partner for Sania in women’s event.
Having won the Asian Games bronze with Prarthana Thombare whom she has been guiding at her academy this season in Hyderabad, it will be a surprise if Sania sees beyond the second best doubles-ranked player in the country, at 209.
However, there is no doubt that the country’s best-ranked singles player, the 22-year-old Ankita Raina, who has unfortunately slipped to 306 from a career-best 222, would be discussed as a possible choice by the selectors