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Indian ace tennis player Sumit Nagal received bad news as he could be without his personal coach Milos Galecic at the forthcoming Paris Olympics 2024, scheduled to be held later this year in July and August.
According to the norms set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the number of support staff shouldn’t exceed one-third of the number of athletes representing a country in each discipline.
Notably, the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji in the doubles team will have a coach Balachandran Manikkath, and physiotherapist Rebecca Van Orshaegen, which indicates there can’t be another coach for the Indian tennis contingent.
Speaking about the same, Anil Dhupar, honorary secretary of the All India Tennis Federation, stated that the timing of the request is an issue. He went on to emphasize that it will depend on the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to decide on the matter.
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“Sumit’s request is absolutely right. But the issue is the timing. Rohan’s participation was more or less confirmed way back, so we had given his name and his partner as well as his choice of coach and physio in the long list six months ago,” Anil Dhupar was quoted as saying by TOI.
“Sumit was ranked 125 then but his name was given based on the high probability of him qualifying. His request for a coach has come now, we will forward it to the IOA because they decide on this. Although there is a 33 percent rule, we can ask them as a special case. But it is entirely up to the IOA,” Anil added.
Sumit Nagal competed in the Tokyo Olympics
Sumit Nagal recently ended as a runner-up in Perugia Challenger, Italy, last week, improving his ranking to 71. He faced a defeat against Italy's Luciano Darderi in the Perugia Challenger final.
Earlier in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Nagal defeated Denis Istomin in the first round before suffering a loss to Daniil Medvedev in the second round. Nevertheless, he will aim to make it big this time around in Roland Garros.
Sumit Nagal will next compete in Wimbledon before making it to the Paris Olympics 2024.
