AITA rushes to pacify Leander
Suspense over the participation of the country’s top ranked tennis player Leander Paes in the London Olympics continues. On Friday, the All India Tennis Association went into damage control mode, and decided to send selector Rohit Rajpal to London to meet Paes and persuade him to play in the mega-event. Rajpal will fly on Saturday morning.
A day earlier, the AITA had named two teams for the Games — Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, and Paes paired with Vishnu Vardhan. “AITA selector Rohit Rajpal is going to London. He will speak to Paes on the association’s decision,” an AITA official told this paper on Friday.
Paes is yet to give his nod to Thursday’s 'compromised formula'. Paes is slated to play alongside Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles at London.
Under the compromise announced by the federation on Thursday, Paes will participate in two events, while Bhupathi got his wish to play alongside Bopanna in the men’s doubles.
Meanwhile, sports minister Ajay Maken steered clear of the furore surrounding the team selection but said the players should put national interest first. “It’s not the job of the ministry, we do not participate in selection process. Things like these should have been worked out long back,” he said.
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