Davis Cup: Yuki Bhambri unavailable, Sumit Nagal may skip too

PUNE: Yuki Bhambri continues to be unavailable while Sumit Nagal too is expected to stay away for India’s Davis Cup World Group playoff tie against Togo, to be held at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Feb 1-2. "Yuki (Bhambri) has expressed his regret (over not being available) while Sumit is yet to respond," AITA honorary secretary Anil Dhupar said on Thursday.

"The team selection is tomorrow, so there is still time for Sumit to respond," he added. Both Nagal and Bhambri had made themselves unavailable for the World Group I tie against Sweden in Stockholm in September when Rohit Rajpal’s side was thrashed 4-0. The tie against Togo is scheduled close on the heels of the Australian Open.

Togo, a tiny West African country, has just one ranked player on the men's pro circuit — 29-year-old Thomas Setodji ranked 1259th on the ATP charts. But Setodji has a 9-3 singles record and 7-0 in doubles in 10 ties, having led Togo to a 4-0 drubbing of Latvia in their most recent tie.

AITA is caught in a legal tangle after Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court seeking to stay the former’s elections. The court allowed the polls but has ordered the results to be submitted in a sealed envelope. The next hearing in the case has been set for March 25. As such, the previous set of administrators and selection committee continue to run the affairs.

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