All India Tennis Association to nominate Ankita Raina, Divij Sharan for Arjuna award
Ankita Raina had won a women's singles bronze medal at the 2018 edition of the Asian Games, while Divij Sharan won a gold medal in the men's doubles event.
Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal will headline six-member Indian team for the Davis Cup World Group II tie against Morocco, scheduled from September 16 to 17 in Lucknow.
Sasikumar Mukund (world No. 345), Digvijay Pratap Singh (world No. 535), Yuki Bhambri (world No. 944) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (world No. 573) are the other members of the team announced by the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) here on Monday.
There is only one change in the squad that was named for tie against Denmark. Digvijay Pratap Singh replaces Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
Former Davis Cupper Rohit Rajpal has been retained as the non-playing captain while Zeeshan Ali will be the coach.
In addition, the AITA has also named five more players – Saketh Myneni, Manas Dhamne, Manish Sureshkumar, Karan Singh and Yuvan Nandal – who will be with the squad to provide
the core group with some valuable practice matches.
World No. 9 in doubles ,Rohan Bopanna, has been in great form this year, winning the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Masters. The veteran announced last month that the Morocco tie will be his career’s final Davis Cup appearance.
T Sumit Nagal, who endured a difficult time in the last couple of years with injury, has also shot up the rankings after winning ATP Challenger titles in Rome and Tampere this season.
A Davis Cup tie comprises five matches – four singles and one double. The team which wins at least three of these matches will win the tie.
India lost 2-3 to Denmark in the Davis Cup 2023 World Group I play-offs in February to drop down to Group II stage for the first time since the new Davis Cup format was implemented in 2019.
India’s best performances at the Davis Cup came in 1966, 1974 and 1987, when they finished as the runners-up.
A total of 24 national teams will compete in World Group II ties. The 12 winners will progress to World Group I playoffs while the losers will drop to World Group II playoffs.
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