AITA Denies Role in Five India Asian Games Tennis Exclusions

The exclusion of five players from India’s seven-member Asian Games 2026 tennis squad has prompted conflicting accounts from the Sports Authority of India and the All India Tennis Association. An SAI source said the players were not part of the final shortlist submitted through the Indian Olympic Association, while AITA said it made a written representation seeking a review of their omission.

Manas Dhamne, Vaishnavi Adkar, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Vaidehee Chaudhari and Prarthana Thombare were left out of the squad. The dispute matters because the final selection has been governed by ranking-based eligibility requirements that the Sports Ministry has said will not be relaxed.

SAI and AITA give opposing accounts of shortlist

According to the SAI source, the five names were not received by the Sports Ministry in the final shortlist shared by the IOA. The source said the names were also not included in the shortlist sent by AITA to the IOA.

The source said the players did not meet the required continental-ranking criteria and that their recent performances did not indicate medal probability or the potential for effective participation at the event. The Ministry’s selection mandate requires singles players to be among the top six in Asia and doubles players to be within the top eight in Asia during a 12-month evaluation period. The criteria were unveiled by the Sports Ministry in September of the previous year.

AITA rejected the suggestion that it had not submitted the names or pursued their inclusion. In a statement, secretary general Sunder Iyer said the association had made an unequivocal representation to IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer seeking a review of the final squad. AITA said its position was about ensuring India fields its strongest possible tennis contingent and cited a written representation dated July 3, 2026.

The SAI source responded that the IOA had already informed AITA, when the provisional list was sent, that the five players did not meet the selection criteria. The source said the association knew the names could not be included in the shortlist that was ultimately finalised.

Players omitted from the final group

The omitted players cover both singles and doubles disciplines. Dhamne was in consideration for men’s singles, while Adkar and Yamalapalli were associated with women’s singles. Chaudhari and Thombare were in contention for women’s doubles.

Yamalapalli is India’s current women’s singles number one with a world ranking of 344, while Adkar is the national number two at world number 388, according to the report. Thombare is a former Asian Games bronze medallist from 2014, Chaudhari is a two-time national champion, and 18-year-old Dhamne has been a Challenger-level finalist.

Thombare and Chaudhari were potential doubles partners, but the report said they had not played together. The SAI source said that raised questions about their preparedness and the effort to establish a competitive partnership before the Asian Games.

Ranking rules remain central to selection debate

Two-time Asian Games gold medallist Rohan Bopanna criticised the exclusions, arguing that the players had been denied the chance to compete through a decision made before play began. He said building a sporting nation should not mean deciding in a boardroom who is permitted to compete.

The SAI source maintained that the Asian Games should not be treated as an exposure opportunity, saying such opportunities belong on the ITF and Challenger circuits. The source also said creating discretionary clearances for tennis players ranked from 25th to 40th in Asia would undermine administrative integrity and could lead to litigation from other national sports federations.

The final squad contains one singles player, Sumit Nagal. Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Yuki Bhambri, Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina make up the doubles teams. Tennis has been allocated Rs 10.05 crore in the 2026-27 Annual Competition and Training Calendar, with more than Rs 2 crore earmarked for overseas training and competition.

The selection discussion is also framed by the strength of Asian tennis at the top of the rankings. Elena Rybakina is listed as Asia’s number one and world number two, while Naomi Osaka is listed as continental number two and world number 13. The report said Asia’s top six players are all inside the world’s top 100.