NEW DELHI: The row over India’s tennis squad for the 2026 Asian Games intensified on Tuesday after the All India Tennis Association (AITA) categorically rejected claims that it failed to submit the names of excluded players to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).The national federation denied a claim made by Sports Authority of India (SAI) source to news agency PTI that the omitted players — Manas Dhamne, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Vaishnavi Adkar, Vaidehee Chaudhari and Prarthana Thombare — did not feature in the shortlist forwarded by AITA to the IOA, and therefore were absent from the final list considered by the Sports Ministry.However, TimesofIndia.com has accessed the letter dated July 3 which was sent to the IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer where merits of each player, including recent history, was mentioned.AITA stated that Secretary General Sunder Iyer had written to Iyer on July 3, making an “urgent representation seeking review of the exclusion of tennis players from the Indian contingent” and specifically naming Dhamne, Ankita Raina, Yamalapalli, Chaudhari, Adkar and Thombare.In the four-page letter sent on July 3, accessed by TimesofIndia.com, AITA had argued that India should field its strongest possible contingent and maximise medal opportunities across all five tennis events rather than relying solely on uniform ranking criteria.On Monday, as TimesofIndia.com reported, the Sports Ministry had stuck by its selection policy, which requires singles players to be among Asia’s top six and doubles players to be inside the continental top-eight over a 12-month evaluation period. The ministry has also maintained that the criteria will not be relaxed despite criticism made by two-time Asian Games medallist Rohan Bopanna.
AITA’s case for the quartet
The federation’s representation highlighted that India had earned multiple strong acceptance-list positions in doubles events.AITA said India had three mixed doubles pairs inside the top-eight accepted entries — Rutuja Bhosale/Yuki Bhambri (seeded No. 2), Ankita Raina/N. Sriram Balaji (No. 5) and Prarthana Thombare/Anirudh Chandrasekar (No. 8). Since each country can enter only two pairs, AITA argued this represented two genuine medal opportunities.It also pointed out that Thombare and Bhosale were positioned at No. 10 on the women’s doubles acceptance list, with withdrawals potentially opening the door to the main draw. Excluding established doubles specialists, the federation said, would weaken India’s medal prospects.For the singles events, AITA described Yamalapalli as India’s highest-ranked women’s singles player, praised Adkar’s international multi-sport credentials, backed Chaudhari’s consistency on tour and termed 18-year-old Dhamne one of India’s brightest young prospects whose Asian Games participation would aid both immediate competitiveness and long-term Olympic development.The letter concluded by requesting the IOA to urgently review the exclusions, reassess entries on an event-specific basis and approve all six players to maximise India’s medal chances.
Ministry steadfast in exclusions
The controversy erupted after the exclusion of five players from the original 12 member list drew criticism from two-time Asian Games gold medallist Rohan Bopanna.Bopanna had said that “a committee that never stood where they stood has decided their fate on paper, before a ball is struck,” adding that denying players the chance to compete was against the principles of building a sporting nation.The Ministry, however, has maintained that recent performances did not establish sufficient medal probability and argued that creating discretionary exceptions for players ranked between 25th and 40th in Asia would undermine administrative integrity and invite litigation from other national sports federations.India’s final tennis squad currently includes Sumit Nagal in men’s singles, while Yuki Bhambri, Dhakshineswar Suresh, N. Sriram Balaji, Anirudh Chandrasekar, Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale have been selected for the doubles events.
