Prahlad Srinath omitted

NEW DELHI, NOV. 28. Prahlad Srinath was the notable exclusion when the All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced the men's and women's teams for the 90,000 dollar Asia Cup tournament to be held here from December 19 to 24.

Srinath had not competed recently in the national championship and the three ITF Futures tournaments at home, reportedly due to injury. He had, however, confirmed his availability for the Asia Cup, but the selectors who met in Mumbai on Monday under the chairmanship of Shyam Minotra opted to give the nod to national champion Nitin Kirtane in the five- member squad.

In the women's section, Shruti Dhawan has been kept as a reserve and the selectors have named a four-member team of Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Manisha Malhotra, Sai Jayalakshmy and Rushmi Chakravarti.

The selectors have also chosen the Indian teams for the South Asian ITF under-14 tournaments to be held in Colombo from January 28.

The teams:

Men: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Nitin Kirtane, Harsh Mankad and Syed Fazaluddin.

Women: Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Manisha Malhotra, Sai Jayalakshmy and Rushmi Chakravarti. Stand-by: Shruti Dhawan.

Boys under-14: Anshuman Datta, M. Vinod and Keshav Narasimhan. Stand-by: Rupesh.

Girls under-14: Sanaa Bhambri, Kartiki Bhat and Tara Iyer. Stand- by: Oormila Ram.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Sampras ready for showdown
Next     : Paes-Bhupathi duo gets wild card