The All India Tennis Federation (AITA) will nominate Asian Games medalists Ankita Raina and Divij Sharan for the Arjuna Award while former Davis Cup coach Nandan Bal's name will be recommended for the Dhyanchand Award. Ankita (27 years old) won the bronze medal in the women's category at the 2018 Asian Games, she also played brilliantly in the Fed Cup and played an important role in qualifying for the World Group Play of India for the first time.
Delhi player Sharan won the men's doubles gold medal along with compatriot Rohan Bopanna in Jakarta. He became India's top doubles player in October 2019 but Bopanna later regained this position. The 34-year-old also won two ATP titles in the 2019 season which included the trophy at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune with Bopanna and in St. Petersburg with Igor Zelene. AITA general secretary told, "These players are eligible and deserving of this year's Arjuna Award. We will recommend his name.
Ankita came into the limelight with her best performance during the 2018 Fed Cup in which she did not lose a single match in singles. She has since become India's best singles player in the WTA and ITF circuits and achieved a career-best singles ranking of 160 in March this year. In this year's Fed Cup, Ankita played eight matches within five days, out of which two singles and three important doubles matches with experienced star player Sania Mirza won, which enabled India to qualify for the play-offs for the first time.
Bopanna was the last tennis player to win the Arjuna Award in 2018. However, AITA is still considering whether Bal's name should be sent for Dronacharya Award or Dhyanchand Award. Chatterjee said, "We are considering which category would be right for Nandan."
Confident sources in AITA, however, told PTI-language that Bal's application will be sent for Dhyanchand Award. Bal (60 years) played in the Davis Cup from 1980 to 1983 and he was the Davis Cup coach of India for many years. So far, only three tennis players have been awarded the Dhyanchand Award including Zeeshan Ali (2014), SP Mishra (2015) and Nitin Kirtane (2019). No tennis coach has received the Dronacharya Award.
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