Rohan Bopanna criticises India’s Asian Games tennis selections

Rohan Bopanna criticised changes to India’s tennis squad for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on August 24, 2026, saying players who qualified through international competition were denied the opportunity to compete. He published his statement on LinkedIn and singled out five athletes whose places were affected after a selection rule was applied.

Bopanna, an Indian tennis great and two-time Asian Games gold medallist who is also a former world No. 1 doubles player, argued the alterations followed the Sports Ministry’s rule limiting participation to players ranked among the top eight in Asia. He said those affected had earned their places on international results and should have been allowed to play in Japan.

In his LinkedIn post Bopanna said: "I'm a proud Indian. And today, I want to speak up for these tennis players who deserve better. They didn't ask for mercy. They asked for a chance. "Dhamne. Adkar. Yamalapalli. Vaidehee. Thombare. Five players, including India's No. 1 and No. 2 in women's singles, who earned their rankings the hard way. No shortcuts. No favors. They competed internationally, qualified, and proved where they stand."

He questioned the selection committee's approach directly, adding: "Now a committee that never stood where they stood has decided their fate on paper, before a ball is struck. If outcomes are already decided, why have qualification at all? Why rankings?"

Bopanna also raised concerns about the wider message the decision sends to families and financial backers, writing: "This isn't just a call about five athletes. It's a message to every parent, every sponsor who backed them before the country did, who bet on merit and results, not on being pre approved. Telling these players they're 'not medal prospects' tells every one of those parent & sponsors: your judgment doesn't matter here," he added.

On the competitive nature of sport he wrote: "Sport is the one arena where belief outruns prediction, where the written off rewrite the script. You don't build a sporting nation, or a sporting economy, by deciding in a boardroom who's allowed to compete," he said. "Let them walk onto the court. Let their years of work count for something. Let sport decide. Not a spreadsheet."

India's final tennis contingent for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games comprises three men's singles players and three women's singles players, three doubles players in each category, plus three men's reserves and two women's reserves. The selection changes affected five players who had originally qualified through their international performances.

The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games run from September 19, 2026, to October 4, 2026, and India will aim to add to its 34 Asian Games medals, including 10 golds, in tennis.