Disappointing not to have Leander Paes for Asian Games, says coach Zeeshan Ali
Indian men’s tennis team captain and coach Zeeshan Ali has stated that it is disappointing to not to have a player like Leander Paes in the mix for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia. Ali added that Paes' withdrawal from the team, two days before the event, is a huge blow for their medal chances.
The 18-time Grand Slam Champion decided against participating in the Asiad starting from August 18 after expressing his disappointment over selectors not picking a doubles specialist to play with him. A
Ali said that Paes’ decision is disappointing as the team will miss his presence on the court. However, he stated that Paes’ is a professional and his decision should be respected rather than questioned.
“It is obviously disappointing to not to have Leander. It is a huge blow to us. But then he is a complete professional. It is his decision completely and his patriotism should not be questioned,” Ali told PTI in Palembang.
The former Davis Cup captain further said that his focus will now be on rearranging the doubles team now rather than thinking much about Paes. However, he said that the team will miss Paes and his experience.
“But I have to forget that he is not coming and focus on rearranging the doubles team, my mixed doubles team. There is no doubt that we will miss him and the experience that he brings to the court,” he added.
The singles combination in both the categories had been decided earlier with Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi shouldering India’s challenge while Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan representing the men’s doubles category.
Speaking of the combinations, Ali said that Paes’ decision has made things difficult in the mixed doubles category as every player has a different style and revealed that most probably Divij will be replacing Paes now. He added that due to the time constraint he is now forced to make decisions according to the rankings.
“I think it makes a big difference to us in the mixed doubles. Now it is a different team we would be looking at. The tough bit is that every player has a different playing style. Most likely Divij will replace Leander in the mixed doubles.
“So it is going back to the drawing board and thinking about the combinations. I am definitely going by the ranking as far as the combinations are concerned. Since we do not have time, it does not give us the room for experimentation,” Ali said.
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