Bengaluru, August 17: The 18th Asian Games to be held in Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang is hours away from starting and controversy has already hit the Indian camp with the pull out of tennis ace Leander Paes.
The 45-year-old was apparently miffed with the selectors after he was asked to team up with struggling singles player Sumit Nagal after All India Tennis Association (AITA) agreed to pair country's top doubles players Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan in the men's doubles, on their request.
Paes was already upset over his exclusion from TOP Scheme but had made himself available for the Asian Games, where he has won eight medals, including five gold.
"It is with a heavy heart that I have to say that I will not be playing the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia," Paes told in a written statement to PTI news agency.
Indian tennis star @Leander has pulled out of Asian Games. He made the announcement by sending a statement to @PTI_News
— Amanpreet Singh (@amanthejourno) August 16, 2018
https://t.co/CuWjWRoPlu
"Despite my repeated requests, from so many weeks in advance, it is sad that we have not been able to put a doubles specialist in the team for a credible second doubles pairing for the Asian Games."
With Sharan and Bopanna deciding to play together, captain Zeeshan Ali had no choice but to pair Paes with Nagal or Ramkumar Ramanathan.
While Ramkumar is primarily a singles player and plays doubles occasionally, Nagal is in terrible form. He has lost nine straight first round matches on the Pro circuit, coming into the Asian Games.
Paes has questioned why AITA did not field two specialist doubles teams.
"Ramkumar (Ramanathan) is a very good player, and I would love to play doubles with him. But considering that he has a golden chance to win the singles medal, it is not fair to distract him from his best event," Paes added.
Paes was to return to the Games after missing the previous two editions.
"Our doubles specialists like Sriram Balaji, Vishnu Vardhan, Purav Raja and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan have been doing exceptionally well this season and one of them definitely deserved to strengthen the Asian Games squad," Paes said.
India as of now have five players in top-100 - Bopanna (32), Sharan (38), Paes (79), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (88) and Purav Raja (90).
The next best two players -- N Sriram Balaji (112) and Vishnu Vardhan (115) were also in top-100 some weeks back.
Paes, however, asserted that his absence would not adversely affect India's chances.
"Rather than affecting the team's chances, I believe that my absence would only help the rest to play more events, be it doubles or mixed doubles," he said.
"I have been in constant touch with Captain Zeeshan Ali and have had long discussions with him with regard to Rohan Bopanna's injury.
"I am happy to learn that Rohan has recovered and as such a doubles medal for India is almost assured. Without his availability it wouldn't have been fair for me to withdraw as that may have impacted a possible gold from tennis."
(With inputs from Agencies).
Find the best IPL odds at 10Cric! Bet on all matches directly from your mobile phone.
Play casino in India at 7Jackpots, and enjoy real money games with fast and secure withdrawal options.