SPORTS

Paes-Bopanna pairing retained for Davis Cup tie vs Spain

August 30, 2016

IMAGE: Leander Paes, left, and Rohan Bopanna in action. Photograph: Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images

The All India Tennis Association’s selection committee retained the doubles pairing of Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna for the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Spain, scheduled for September 16-18.

The committee, headed by S P Misra, retained all four playing members of the squad that beat Korea Korea 4-1 last month, with Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan listed for singles duty.

The only change is in the reserve members of the squad, with southpaw Prajnesh Gunneswaran replacing Vishnu Vardhan.

Youngster Sumit Nagal continues as a reserve.

Asked if a different doubles pairing was considered, Misra replied in a negative.

"We are playing Spain and it's not good time for experimenting. Leander and Rohan are the best pair we have. Ideally, we should have three singles players in the squad but since Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman are both injured, this option is closed for now," Misra said.

Bopanna and Paes had won against a weak Korean combination in the previous tie and then lost in the opening round of the Rio Olympics.

The squad: Saketh Myneni, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes.

Reserves: Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sumit Nagal.

Non-playing captain: Anand Amritraj.

Coach: Zeeshan Ali.

 

Recommended by Rediff.com

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email