Bops-Raja for doubles, Myneni dropped

Edmonton, India’s non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi was forced to pair Rohan Bopanna with Purav Raja instead of Saketh Myneni in the Davis Cup doubles rubber, to be played on Saturday.
Bopanna and Raja, who will play only his second Davis Cup tie, will take on the seasoned Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil.
Raja was brought into the team at the last minute as a reserve player when N Sriram Balaji, one of the two reserves named initially in the squad, twisted his ankle during the training camp in New York.
On the final day of reverse singles on Sunday, Bhambri will take on debutant Brayden Schnur and Ramkumar Ramanathan will lock horns with Denis Shapovalov. Asked to explain the change in nomination for the doubles rubber on Saturday, Bhupathi said, “We feel this is our best doubles team, keeping in mind Myneni is not yet physically ready to play a tough five set match.”
Paes out of Ministry’s list for monthly stipend
New Delhi: The Sports Ministry has left out Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni from the initial list of tennis players who have been chosen for monthly allowance for their preparations for the next year’s big-ticket events and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
According to reliable sources, among the players who have been chosen for the monthly allowance of Rs 50,000 are Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal.
Ankita not included
Three women players have been included in the list, which features Sania Mirza, Prarthana Thombare and Karman Kaur Thandi. Surprisingly, the country’s top singles player Ankita Raina has not been included in the list.
“This is not the final list,” a Sports Ministry official said.
In all, the Ministry has chosen 152 athletes across disciplines for their preparations for next year’s Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The players will receive funds directly through Direct Benefit Transfer with effect from September 1.