Mumbai: The union sports ministry’s decision to exclude five tennis players from the Indian contingent for next month’s Asian Games has left them disappointed at losing their “opportunity to compete”, at the very least, after being selected.
“Winning a medal is never guaranteed in sport. If it were, there would be no competition,” Vaidehee Chaudhari, India No.3 in women’s singles, said on Monday. “Athletes prepare to fight for medals, not to be guaranteed one. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose — but the opportunity to compete is what every athlete deserves.”
From the 12-member squad picked by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) in June for the continental event, the ministry left out the five over its criteria laid out last year. It stated that only athletes with a realistic chance of winning medals would be considered for participation in multi-sport events. One of the benchmarks in it for the Asian Games was that the player’s world ranking must be in the top six among the Asian countries.
That meant the top three Indian women in the WTA singles charts, Sahaja Yamalapalli (world No.342), Vaishnavi Adkar (389) and Vaidehee (431), were excluded. So were doubles specialist Prarthana Thombare and rising men’s singles pro Manas Dhamne.
Of these, only Prarthana was part of the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou where Indian tennis players won two medals in doubles. In 2018, Ankita Raina and Prajnesh Gunneswaran won bronze in singles.
Sahaja, the India No.1 in singles, called the decision “sad and disappointing”.
“Because we were all looking forward to representing India at the Asian Games. And we’ve all been doing well recently,” Sahaja, 25, said.
“But if the ministry has already said that this is the rule, no one can do anything about it… of course, it sucks that the rule exists. But it is what it is.”
The ministry has maintained that the criteria were laid out in advance, and exist for a reason. Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya said last month that events like the Asian Games were not “exposure tours”.
Rohan Bopanna, the former doubles world No.1 and twice Asian Games gold medallist, questioned the need to have benchmarks of qualification and rankings.
“Five players, including India’s No.1 and No.2 in women’s singles, earned their rankings the hard way. No shortcuts. No favours. They competed internationally, qualified and proved where they stand,” Bopanna wrote on LinkedIn. “Now a committee that never stood where they stood has decided their fate on paper, before a ball is struck.”
Tennis rankings can be volatile. Adkar, 21, ended the 2025 season ranked 581, and is up by over 200 places after some solid weeks this season. But with points to defend and tournaments to play almost every week, India’s singles players have also seen stagnation, and even drop in rankings, in recent times. Tennis though has witnessed fairytales of qualifiers making deep runs in Grand Slams and lower-ranked players upsetting the fancied.
“Today, being told that we may not be sent because there is a belief that we are not capable of winning a medal is extremely disappointing,” said Vaidehee. “If an athlete is selected to represent the country, shouldn’t they at least be given the opportunity to compete?”
To be sure, tennis isn’t the only sport where players have been excluded in the latest list for the upcoming Asian Games. Neither is this the only instance of athletes feeling aggrieved over selection calls taken by their national federations or, in this case, the ministry. Athletes across sports have gone to court over non-selection for multi-sports events in the past.
“I don’t want to try and fight against it, because I know it’s not going to change anything for us to be at the Asian Games.” said Sahaja. “I’m just going to keep doing my work, and try to earn our spots for when the Asian Games comes around the next time.”
