New Delhi: Indian tennis stars Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal have successfully secured their spots for the Paris 2024 Olympics based on their Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings in doubles and singles competitions, respectively.
The qualification window for the Paris Olympics closed on Monday, and Bopanna, ranked fourth in the world for doubles, comfortably earned his quota. He has been consistently ranked within the top 10 in doubles since November last year.
Sumit Nagal, on the other hand, secured his spot following a significant jump in the singles rankings. Nagal's victory at the ATP Challenger Heilbronn Neckarcup in Germany propelled him from 95th to a career-best 77th place, as reported by Olympics.com.
The men's and women's singles competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics will each feature 64 players. The top 56 players in the men's singles rankings, as of June 10, received quotas. Each country is allowed to secure up to four quotas.
France, as the host nation, had one reserved quota spot in case none of their players qualified directly. However, since French players secured all four men's singles quotas through rankings, this reserved spot was added back into the pool, raising the cut-off from 56 to 57 players. Nagal secured the final spot through his ranking.
Nagal, who represented India at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was ranked 138th in January. His performance this year, including a title win at the Chennai Open, helped him break into the top 100 ATP rankings.
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) must confirm the usage of quotas by July 19. These committees have the exclusive authority to represent their countries at the Olympics and select the athletes who will participate.
In the doubles event, 32 teams will compete in both men's and women's competitions, with each country allowed to field up to two teams. The top 10 players in the doubles rankings automatically qualify, provided they have a partner ranked within the top 300.
Bopanna, expected to partner with world number 67 Sriram Balaji, secured his spot following confirmation from the NOC. The 44-year-old Bopanna won the Australian Open Grand Slam in January and reached the semi-finals at the French Open last week. He previously represented India at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics but did not qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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