Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) India’s woman tennis star Sania Mirza is skipping the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games here Sunday while the men’s tennis team, too, were non-committal about it.

Sania has decided to keep herself fresh for the mixed doubles first round with Leander Paes Monday while another mixed double pair Rohan Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeev also have a match the same day. The second seeded pair of Paes and Sania are scheduled to take on Saint Lucia’s Stacey Nykita Roheman and Alberton Richelieu in the first round.

Bopanna and Sanjeev are up against top seeds Anastasia Rodionova and Paul Hanley. Bopanna also has a singles match lined up against Uganda’s Robert Muyinza in the morning.

“Sania has a game Monday. She is also taking part in all the three events - singles, doubles and mixed doubles. She needs adequate rest. So I can’t take the risk of letting her attend the march past of the athletes at the opening ceremony,” team coach Jaideep Mukerjea told IANS.

The men’s team of Somdev Devvarman, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna along with coaches Nandan Bal and Enrico Piperno arrived in the Indian capital Saturday afternoon and were quick to hit the courts by evening. Paes will be here Sunday morning.

“I don’t know whether I will be there Sunday. I have two matches Monday,” Bopanna said when asked about his participation in the opening ceremony.

Bhupathi said he will be practising with Paes, so he can’t ensure his participation.

Mukerjea said during the opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the competitors would have to wait at the players’ holding area for three hours ahead of the march past. “In all, the players have to be there for over five hours.”