No noise being made about her need to have practice with Sunitha Rao before Games
NEW DELHI: The India doubles veterans may still be able to work out the rust before Beijing but the country’s chances in the women category are definitely not looking too good. Singles entrant Sania Mirza is struggling on her comeback from injury and has been having a tough time winning on the WTA Tour. The Mirza bazooka forehand has not got its sights pat as yet and that in turn is hampering her whole game as the forehand is the main weapon around which the world number 33 structures her gameplan.
The 6-7 (4) 1-6 loss to the 82-ranked Anne Keothavong at Stanford on Tuesday would not have done too much good to her confidence on the comeback trail. Though Mirza has been quite the fighter all along, expecting her to go all the way at the Olympics is looking a bit fantastic at the moment.
Along with Sunitha Rao she figures in the doubles draw. While there was a huge hue and cry raised over the necessity of the duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes teaming up to ensure that India’s chances for a medal are maintained, no such noises have been made over the two women coming together before the Olympics. That perhaps implies that not much is expected of the pairing.
Mirza is ranked 18 in the women’s doubles rankings while Rao is placed at 128. For Mirza to play with Rao in the run-up to the Games, she would have to figure in a lower tier tournament for both to make the main draw or else look for a wild card. As of now this particular chapter of Olympics preparation is yet to open.
