Leander Paes will be competing in the Asian Games after a gap of 12 years after being named in the Indian tennis squad for the upcoming edition of the continental event to be held in Indonesia later this year. Paes, 44, was included in the 12-member squad which features six men and as many women with Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali and Ankita Bhambri appointed as men’s and women’s captains respectively. The All India Tennis Association selection committee went by the rankings while picking the top three players in singles and doubles for the men’s team.
The lone exception was Yuki Bhambri, who has been left out as he preferred to focus on the US Open Grand Slam. Ramkumar Ramanathan (world No. 121), Prajnesh Gunneswaran (183), Sumit Nagal (220), Rohan Bopanna (doubles ranking of 24) and Divij Sharan (41) are the others in the men’s team. Paes had opted out of the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.
Ankita in squad, Zeel misses out
While picking the women’s team the selectors have chosen the top-5 based on singles ranking while Prarthana Thombare made the cut as the highest ranked doubles player after Sania Mirza. Thus, Ankita Raina (singles ranking 208), Karman Kaur Thandi (264), Rutuja Bhosale (400), Pranjala Yadlapalli (426), Riya Bhatia (623) and Thombare (185) form the women’s team while Zeel Desai, the country’s sixth best singles player, misses out.
