Sania Mirza to participate in the Asian Games

On a day when the men failed to win a single rubber at the Davis Cup Play-offs, Sania Mirza has decided to stand up for her country by agreeing to play at the Asian Games to be held in Incheon. Sania, along with Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman and Leander Paes, had earlier expressed her inability to represent her country at the presigious quadrennial event. She is defending 900 points from the Tokyo event and 1000 from the Beijing event.

The tennis events at the Asian Games run from 20th to 30th September. The Toray Pan Pacific Open, which has now been downgraded to a Premier tournament from the earlier Premier5 status, starts on 15th , while the Wohan Open and the China Open take place in succesive weeks. The three tournaments offer a maximum of 2370 (470,900,1000) points, of which she is defending 1900. This is a very crucial part of the season as all the teams vying for a spot at the enhanced draw of the WTA Finals in Singapore will try to gain maximum points to secure one of the eight coveted spots. It is for the first time in many years thet eight teams will compete for the Women’s doubles title like the men do.

In her interaction with the press, she said that she will be missing the Wuhan event, but will play the other two. This means that she will give the team event a miss at the Asian Games. It is a very good decision on her part as she will play for her country and will also try to secure her top-10 spot. The earliest matches of the individual draws, at Incheon, will start on the 23rd of septenber (Tuesday), giving her time to move from Tokyo.

Though the China Open doubles matches start on 21st (Saturday), Sania and Cara would most likely receive a bye in the first round due to their superior ranking and hence, could play their first match as late as Wednesday. This could be a neat plan on paper, but it could be completely tiresome for Sania to play for three continuous weeks and adapt to different conditions and partners. The second week could also entail playing the Mixed and Women’s doubles at the Asian Games.

It would not be fair to expect the same from Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes or Somdev Devvarman as they have to get hold of every point that comes their way. This is to ensure that Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes, ranked 13th and 17th in the Race to London, qualify for the ATP Tour finals, which has not missed Indian participation since 1997. Somdev has to amass many more points to rise to a top 100 rank and be able to participate on regular tour events.

In spite of being drawn into unnecessary controveries throughout her career and even being questioned on her allegience to the tricolour, Sania has proved all her critics wrong and has gone a few steps farther than expected to salvage her country’s pride on the world stage. This is a completely commendable gesture fron her as it would boost the morale of the tennis contingent as well as our chances to strike gold.