Sakyasen Mittra
Bhubaneswar, May 28: Will Leander Paes’ dream of playing in seven successive Olympics Games finally materialise. There is every possibility that Lee may miss the Rio Games beginning August 5.
According to the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) rules, the wild card system for any country has been abolished. Both in men’s doubles and mixed doubles, the cut-off ranking is 68 on June 6 – the day after the French Open finals for qualifying for Rio. At Rio, there will be 32 men’s doubles pairs and 16 mixed doubles combination vying for medals.
Leander’s current ranking is 54 in men’s doubles, while Rohan Bopanna stands at No. 12. Both will have to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles at Roland Garros to maintain the same. If they do so, both will automatically qualify. If they fail to do so, both will lose 180 points, enough to dash their Olympic dreams.
At the French Open, Leander is playing with Marcin Matkowki while Bopanna has paired up with the tried and tested Florin Mergea. So the job for Leander of making it to the quarterfinals has become doubly difficult because this is the first time he is playing with Matkowski this season.
The catch, however, lies elsewhere. If Bopanna reaches the semifinals of the doubles, his ranking will improve to No. 10 or below it. As per ITF rules, a player within the top 10, can choose any partner from his country irrespective of the latter’s rankings. Bopanna, has given enough indication that he would prefer anybody, other than Leander. In the 2012 London Games also he had refused to partner Leander.
Bopanna has close proximity to the Mahesh Bhupathi camp. So if Bopanna’s rankings improve to No. 10 or below it he may even want Bhupathi as his partner. Even if that doesn’t happen, sources informed that Bopanna may opt for Purav Raja or Saketh Myneni instead of Leander. The AITA will also not be able to intervene because the choice of the player will depend completely on Bopanna.
Amid all this, there is also the possibility of even Sania Mirza missing out on the mixed doubles. According to the new ITF rules, if a country doesn’t have a representation in men’s singles or doubles, that nation will automatically lose the eligibility of playing the mixed doubles. So for her to play in the mixed doubles it is imperative that either Bopanna or Leander maintain their present rankings. In case of mixed doubles, Sania can’t choose any partner from her country as is the case in men’s doubles. So there remains the possibility of her not playing the mixed doubles and in the process India losing out on a medal.