AITA says why did Bopanna not qualify on his own after player accuses federation
Doubles player Rohan Bopanna, who failed to make the cut for the Tokyo Olympics along with Divij Sharan because of their low combined rank, on Monday accused AITA of misleading everyone by claiming it had changed the combination by pairing him with Sumit Nagal for a shot at qualification.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) hit back at Bopanna by saying that it only tried to help him since he could not qualify on his own.
The AITA had announced the nomination of Bopanna and Sharan for the men’s doubles event of the Tokyo Games.
However, Bopanna (38) and Sharan (75), with a low combined rank of 113 missed out on qualification. According to the International Tennis Federation (ITF), a few days before the July 16 deadline, they were the fifth alternate.
But, after Nagal made the cut for the men’s singles on July 16 following large-scale withdrawals, AITA saw hope in getting a men’s doubles team’s entry since singles players were being given the priority to fill the doubles draws.
The AITA announced that it had changed the combination by pairing Bopanna with Nagal.
