Krishna jumps in, but no solution for Olympic tennis team
June 20th, 2012 - 7:21 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has called for the players to resolve their differences but this has had little impact as the All India Tennis Association (AITA) was Wednesday forced to postpone by a day its decision on the pairing of the men’s doubles team for the London Olympics.
Krishna, the honorary life president of the AITA, asked Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to resolve their problems with Leander Paes in the country’s best interests.
According to top officials in the AITA, Krishna told the players that they should respect India’s interests and resolve their individual differences at the earliest. He also told the players that India’s image should never be compromised for personal issues.
But despite his appeal, Paes reportedly said that he was not going to pair up with anybody except Bhupathi or Bopanna and he is not in favour of sending two teams for the Games.
AITA is now running out of time as Thursday is the last date of submitting entries for the London Olympics to the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The AITA was all set to announce the final pairing Wednesday evening after Sports Minister Ajay Maken made it amply clear Tuesday that it was the prerogative of the AITA to select the pairing for the Olympic Games.
The AITA top brass held a marathon meeting till late Tuesday night and, according to sources, felt sending two teams was the best option. They decided Bhupathi and Bopanna, who have qualified as a team, should be allowed to participate and Paes should tie up with Vishu Vardhan or Yuki Bhambhri.
But AITA’s decision didn’t go down well with Paes, who reportedly threatened to pull out of the Games if he was asked to pair with a junior partner.
- It's for AITA to pick the Olympic team, says Maken (Lead) - Jun 19, 2012
- Paes serves a threat, AITA defers Olympics selection (Roundup) - Jun 20, 2012
- AITA backs Paes, gives sports ministry five options - Jun 19, 2012
- Players should put country first, says Maken - Jun 22, 2012
- Maken retreats; AITA, Bhupathi back to square one (Roundup) - Jun 19, 2012
- Yuki, Vardhan ready for Olympics (Lead) - Jun 20, 2012
- Krishna plays key role in breaking tennis deadlock - Jun 21, 2012
- Vardhan hopes to shine on Wimbledon grass - Jun 21, 2012
- AITA keeps players happy; to send two teams for Games (Second Lead) - Jun 21, 2012
- Sports minister asks AITA why not send two teams (Lead) - Jun 18, 2012
- Selector Rohit Rajpal to meet Paes in London - Jun 22, 2012
- Will try to convince Paes if needed: Vardhan - Jun 20, 2012
- Maken questions AITA's decision to pick one team - Jun 18, 2012
- Mahesh Bhupathi opts out of Davis Cup tie - Mar 06, 2012
- AITA picks two teams for Olympics, Paes still unhappy (Roundup) - Jun 21, 2012
Tags: aita, ajay maken, doubles team, external affairs minister, honorary life president, individual differences, international tennis federation, junior partner, last date, leander paes, london olympics, mahesh bhupathi, olympic games, olympic tennis, personal issues, rohan bopanna, running out of time, tennis association, tennis team, vishu