Asiad: India doubles chances high

Express News Service

CHENNAI: All of India’s leading doubles players have made themselves available for selection for the upcoming Asian Games in what could be a boost to their medal chances, especially in men’s doubles. Unlike at the Olympics, the ATP tour doesn’t stop. But there is no multi-discipline event without the possibility of a controversy or two with respect to team selection. In 2018, Leander Paes pulled out of the event at the last minute forcing a change of combination in the last event.

While nothing has been formally decided about the team combination vis-a-vis Hangzhou — India gets to pick two teams in men’s doubles — the ones in the fray may not get to partner with the players they want. World No 7 Rohan Bopanna may not get to play with his preferred partner. And if he’s asked to partner with Yuki Bhambri (the next highest ranked Indian doubles player), that would mean breaking up the pair of Bhambri and Saketh Myneni, who have put together a string of decent results as a pair on tour since coming together last year.

Camp in Lucknow

The plan right now for the squad is to have a pre-Asian Games camp in Lucknow following the Davis Cup from September 14-17. “All the players have made themselves available for selection so that’s good,” captain Rohit Rajpal told this daily. “We haven’t decided on the combination, we will do that once we know about the courts and the conditions.” 

<br /> CHENNAI: All of India’s leading doubles players have made themselves available for selection for the upcoming Asian Games in what could be a boost to their medal chances, especially in men’s doubles. Unlike at the Olympics, the ATP tour doesn’t stop. But there is no multi-discipline event without the possibility of a controversy or two with respect to team selection. In 2018, Leander Paes pulled out of the event at the last minute forcing a change of combination in the last event.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.82 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.82 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>While nothing has been formally decided about the team combination vis-a-vis Hangzhou — India gets to pick two teams in men’s doubles — the ones in the fray may not get to partner with the players they want. World No 7 Rohan Bopanna may not get to play with his preferred partner. And if he’s asked to partner with Yuki Bhambri (the next highest ranked Indian doubles player), that would mean breaking up the pair of Bhambri and Saketh Myneni, who have put together a string of decent results as a pair on tour since coming together last year.</p> <p>Camp in Lucknow</p> <p>The plan right now for the squad is to have a pre-Asian Games camp in Lucknow following the Davis Cup from September 14-17. “All the players have made themselves available for selection so that’s good,” captain Rohit Rajpal told this daily. “We haven’t decided on the combination, we will do that once we know about the courts and the conditions.” <br />