Crisis in Indian tennis: Top 10 developments

New Delhi:  The drama in Indian tennis may be forced to a conclusion today. The All India Tennis Association (AITA) will announce its final team for the London Olympics. Tomorrow is the deadline for submitting the names of the players in the team for the men's doubles event.

Here's your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story:

1. The controversy is over who should represent India in the men's doubles event.
2. The tennis association wanted Leander Paes to be paired with Mahesh Bhupathi. Once referred to as The Indian Express, the players have not spoken to each other since last November.
3. Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bhupathi had written to the tennis association to say he did not want to play with Paes. However, they buried the hatchet and represented India in Beijing.
4. On Friday, the AITA decided that it will send one men's doubles team to London which will comprise of Paes and Bhupathi. But the rules allow India to send two teams for this event.
5. Bhupathi wrote to the tennis association, declining its offer. "I have already told the All India Tennis Association (AITA) that I will not be available to play the Olympics if I am paired with Leander," he said.
   
   Tennis association then approached Rohan Bopanna to partner with Paes. He too refused, saying "Having played alongside Leander Paes only twice during my career, I recognise that as a team we are under-prepared for the demands of the Olympics and, in good faith, I could not accept AITA's offer that we play together," he added.
6. Bopanna and Bhupathi say they have been playing well together and should be sent as one team. Paes, they suggest, should get a different partner.
   
   Tennis association criticized them, saying "It should be understood that two players cannot make a pact with each other to keep the number one player out."
7. Sports Minister Ajay Maken tried to intervene, asked why the Tennis Association is adamant on sending just one team. The Tennis Association wrote back saying that it would be meaningless to send Paes with a younger player who has not played Grand Slam. "Leander being the best player must be paired with either Rohan Bopanna or Mahesh Bhupathi," its letter said.
8. Unhappy with Ministry's suggestion of sending two teams to London, Paes wrote to the AITA: "By setting up a second team as suggested by some, you would create a situation where your no.1 player and the only Indian in the Top Ten ATP Doubles Rankings would have to play with the no. 5 Indian player. This would not be fair."
9. Yesterday, the Sports Ministry retreated from its stance and said it did not wish to be a part of the selection process and that the AITA should take the final decision.
10. After the meeting last night, AITA President Anil Khanna said, "We've taken everyone's opinions into consideration, this wasn't an easy task. Hope to reach a decision by tomorrow which may not leave everyone happy."

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