New Delhi: A clear picture on Leander Paes’ participation at the London Olympics is unlikely to emerge before June 28, when ITF will reveal whether Sania Mirza has been given a wild card, drawing out the tennis drama further.
Despite Paes’ reservations, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) partnered him with 206th-ranked Vishnu Vardhan for the men’s doubles but he was assured of a pairing with Sania for the mixed doubles event.
AITA was forced to give in to the demand of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna that they be sent as a team to London after initially selecting Paes and Bhupathi as the lone Indian entry.
Sania, on the back of her recent French Open victory, is likely to get a wild card entry either in the singles or the women’s doubles draw with Rushmi Chakravarthy.
In case she does not get it, Paes’ chances of winning a medal at Olympics will diminish, as his combination with Vardhan may not survive long in the tough men’s doubles field.
Therefore if Sania is not granted a wild card, Paes may decide against competing in the Games, as he realistically stands a medal chance only in mixed doubles.
AITA had made the team announcement on Thursday but Paes has not yet made it clear if he will carry out his boycott, as he threatened to if paired with a junior player.
However, if Paes plays, he will achieve a rare distinction of becoming the only Indian to compete in six Olympics. He along with shooters Karni Singh and Randhir Singh have competed in five Olympics so far.
AITA’s senior selector Rohit Rajpal is in London to persuade Paes to accept the team combination and make it public. All the top Indian players are currently in London to participate in Wimbledon, which starts on Monday.
Although Sania has not responded to the team selection so far, she had said that her preferred partner is Bhupathi, with whom she won the French Open earlier this month.
Sania may react only after getting a wild card but it has been learnt that she will not refuse to play with Paes, like Bhupathi and Bopanna did.
Sania, though, firmly believes that she stands a good medal chance by playing alongside Bhupathi.
The two are regular partners and have won two Grand Slam titles together and are eyeing a third when they play at Wimbledon.
Paes and Sania had played at the 2010 Commonwealth Games together but lost in the quarterfinals to a lower-ranked Scottish team. (PTI)