NEW DELHI (AP) — The All India Tennis Association is asking Leander Paes to accept being teamed with Vishnu Vardhan in a solution to an Olympic selection row that also includes picking Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna as a second doubles pair for the London Games.
Bhupathi and Bopanna both refused to play with Paes in London. Paes threatened to pull out on Wednesday if he did not get to choose his partner because he is the highest-ranked Indian doubles player.
But AITA president Anil Khanna said on Thursday that the national body wants Paes to accept his pairing with the little-known Vardhan, adding that the teams aren’t the best but are “the best possible combination under the circumstances.”
