Veteran tennis star Leander Paes was retained in the Indian Davis Cup team for next month's Asia/Oceania Zone tie against Uzbekistan.
Miffed at not getting a 'specialist' men's doubles partner, veteran tennis star Leander Paes, on Thursday, pulled out of the 18th Asian Games starting on Saturday.
Top doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi has opted out of India's Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan next month to allow tour partner Rohan Bopanna pair with Leander Paes, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced on Tuesday.
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.
Surprised by the sacking of his elder brother as India's Davis Cup skipper, the legendary Vijay Amritraj says Anand Amritraj is the country's best captain in the last three decades and it is quite against the trend to remove a winning leader.
India's outgoing Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj termed as bitter-sweet, the All India Tennis Association's (AITA) decision to hand him a farewell tie in February and predicted some tough time for the next man in charge, Mahesh Bhupathi. The AITA Executive Committee decided to give Amritraj one last tie as reports emerged recently that he will be asked to go on account of indiscipline in the Indian team. AITA did not give him the one-year term he had wished but has given Amritraj a chance to make a graceful exit for himself and he would like to go on a high by winning the tie against the Kiwis.
The AITA selection committee, on Tuesday, decided to keep veteran Leander Paes in the five-member playing squad for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Croatia, making Divij Sharan the reserve member.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the government will not have any say on whether India should participate in next month's Davis Cup tie in Pakistan as the event is not a bilateral engagement.
The AITA has appointed former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj as the new non-playing captain of the Davis Cup team, which will take on Chinese Taipei in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie next year.
Caught in a dilemma over competing in the Asian Games or the WTA tournaments which clash with the event, Sania Mirza on Sunday, decided to let the All India Tennis Association take a call on her participation in the continental extravaganza in Incheon, Korea.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0.
India will field a second-string tennis contingent in this month's Asian Games after allowing frontline players, including Leander Paes and Sania Mirza, to play on the professional tours instead to revive their rankings.
Rohit Rajpal will continue as India's non-playing captain. He took over as captain last year after the country's top players and then captain Mahesh Bhupathi refused to travel to Pakistan in November. India is scheduled to travel to Croatia for their next tie on March 6 and 7.
India's Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday defended the selection of N Sriram Balaji ahead of higher-ranked Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja for the tie against Serbia.
The winners of the Heart Awards will be determined by online voting by fans which will go live on May 1 and will go on until May 8.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Somdev Devvarman has asserted that their collective refusal to play in Davis Cup does not potray India and its tennis players in bad light and the "revolt is one of the most remarkable things" that has happened in Indian sport.
Indian tennis star Somdev Devvarman, who is leading a players' revolt against the All India Tennis Association (AITA), has lambasted the body and called it 'unprofessional' and 'unethical' for snubbing the rebel group.
A total of 24 teams will play in the knockout Qualifiers on February 1 and 2 to decide which 12 teams will play the year-end Finals.
Senior player Rohan Bopanna pulled out of India's upcoming tie against Pakistan due to a shoulder injury, paving the way for Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan's inclusion in the playing squad.
Indian tennis faces a second major embarrassment in six months after negotiations between the association and disgruntled Davis Cup players failed ahead of their home tie against South Korea next month.
Still awaiting the All India Tennis Association's (AITA) response to their demands, Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna said he and his fellow revolting players will adopt a wait-and-watch approach before deciding on whether to compete in the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Korea.
The 42-year-old Leander Paes's dream of appearing in a record seventh Olympics may remain just that if Rohan Bopanna decides to play with a player ranked lower than the world No 46.
Yuki, ranked 93, has told AITA that if he gets direct entry into the last Grand Slam of the season, he won't be available.
Former Davis Cupper Anand Amritraj has described the ongoing crisis in Indian tennis following the players' revolt against the AITA a shame and said that both the parties should work out a comprise formula and resolve the issue quickly.
Pune is likely to grab the hosting rights of India's only ATP 250 event, Chennai Open, from next year with the backing of the Maharashtra state government.
India's veteran tennis star Leander Paes rejected the compromise formula of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and has decided to pull out of the 2012 Olympics in London.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Thursday slammed Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna for dictating terms to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) over selection of the team for the 2012 Olympics.
AITA claimed to have worked out a compromise formula to resolve the selection crisis for the Olympics by deciding to send two men's doubles teams for the event, pairing Leander Paes with a lower-ranked Vishnu Vardhan.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Friday voiced its support for Leander Paes, advising a section of media to consider his illustrious Davis Cup career before questioning his commitment.
India's top singles player Yuki Bhambri and Asian Games gold-medallist Divij Sharan have pulled out of the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against Serbia due to injuries while Sumit Nagal has refused to join the team as a stand-by.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The November 29-30 contest has already been rescheduled once, owing to security concerns raised by India.
Despite Mahesh Bhupathi lashing out at him in public over the selection of the men's doubles team for the London Olympics, Leander Paes refused to react and said he is ready to play with his former partner.
Sumit Nagal had impressed on his Davis Cup debut against Spain not so long ago but the youngster has been dropped from the team for the upcoming New Zealand tie due to serious breach of discipline, the All India Tennis Asssociation sources claimed on Tuesday.
Paes was dropped from the tie against Uzbekistan last April. He has been out of favour since the Bengaluru fiasco when he was not included in the starting line-up by captain, Mahesh Bhupathi.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Ankita is now country's best-ranked singles (182) and doubles (95) player and is set to make her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games next month.
Taking inspiration from the roaring success of the Indian Premier League, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has decided to launch a city franchise-based tennis league in November-December.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Monday agreed with the safety concerns in Islamabad, raised by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and moved the Nov 29-30 tie out of Pakistan's capital city.
