The two Indian tennis players Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan have missed the cut for men’s doubles, which also rules out the country’s presence in the mixed team competition. This gave a setback to India’s medal chances in the tennis event of the Tokyo Olympics. It was expected that with a low combined ranking of 113, Bopanna’s 38 and Sharan’s 75 entry would decide the large scale withdrawals.
AITA source told PTI, “The ITF has confirmed that Bopanna and Divij could not be entered as a team in the men’s doubles team. Though, things might change till July 16 if there are more withdrawals.”
As per rules, only those players can be part of the mixed team event who are already in one of the main draws which might be in singles or doubles. Bopanna was ranked 38th at the start of the year, on the other hand, Sharan’s ranking only got worse after starting number 63.
This is the first time that India will miss out on fielding a men’s doubles at the Olympics ever since a young Leader Paes and Ramesh Krishnan competed at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. Paes was there mostly with Mahesh Bhupathi. In 2016, Paes and Bopanna competed and lost the first round.