Now Reading: Rohan Bopanna slams AITA and ministry over Asian Games tennis cuts
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Rohan Bopanna slams AITA and ministry over Asian Games tennis cuts
Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna has criticised the All India Tennis Association and the Sports Ministry after five players were dropped from India's squad for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. The…
Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna has criticised the All India Tennis Association and the Sports Ministry after five players were dropped from India's squad for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. The Sports Ministry approved only 7 of the 12 players proposed by AITA, citing a rule that only players ranked in the top eight in Asia can be sent. Those cut include India's top two women's singles players Sahaja Yamalapalli and Vaishnavi Adkar, Vaidehee Chaudhari, Prarthana Thombare, and men's singles prospect Manas Dhamne.
In a LinkedIn post, Bopanna said the players earned their spots through rankings and results, and the decision sends a wrong message to parents and sponsors. "Let sport decide, not a spreadsheet," he wrote. Sahaja said she was "very shocked" and questioned the logic of competing only if seeded. AITA interim secretary general Sunder Iyer said the association tried to convince the ministry but the criteria applies to all sports. The Games run from September 19 to October 4.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both sources report the same facts but Hindustan Times provides deeper context, including AITA's argument that the original 12-member squad offered strong medal chances in doubles and mixed doubles, and details of the ministry's selection framework. Times Now focuses almost entirely on Bopanna's criticism, framing the cuts as a top-down boardroom decision. The ministry's rationale, a pre-existing policy to send only top-eight Asian players, gets brief mention in both but no outlet explores whether the policy was applied consistently across sports. The core dispute is between a federation that wants event-specific selection and a ministry using a uniform medal-potential formula. The next step is unclear but with the Games two months away, a resolution appears unlikely.
Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral
Sources (3): timesnownews.com (neutral report), hindustantimes.com (neutral report), hindustantimes.com (2) (neutral report)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
