Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal is now eligible to compete in the men’s singles event at the Tokyo Olympics, the world governing body ITF has communicated to the AITA, a source in the national tennis body said on Friday.
Nagal was ranked 144 on June 14, when ATP rankings were to be considered for direct entries. Another specialist singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran just missed the Tokyo criteria as his ATP ranking on the cut-off date was 148. The deadline for accepting tennis entries closes later on Friday. Withdrawals that occur starting July 17th (Tokyo time) will be filled in by doubles players already nominated for the Games.
The stringent protocols under which the Games are being held and the fear of contracting coronavirus has forced many withdrawals that kept lowering the cut-off mark. The withdrawals include Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Dan Evans, Vasek Pospisil and Alex De Minaur, among others.
“We have received a mail from the ITF that Sumit is now eligible. They have asked for his details. We have started the process of getting him in,” an AITA official told PTI.
Yuki Bhambri, with his Protected Ranking of 127, also made the cut but since he recently underwent a procedure on his right knee in the US, he has made himself unavailable.
“I won’t be playing,” Bhambri told PTI.