Sania Mirza selected for TOPS in 56th Mission Olympic Cell meeting

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza was selected for the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) during the 56th Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) meeting on Wednesday. Sania is making her comeback to TOPS as she was held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) headquarters in 2017 during the fourth meeting of the TOPS Elite Athletes Identification Committee. But soon after selection, she was withdrawn from TOPS.

He is currently ranked 157 in the world, but has a protected ranking of nine (doubles rankings), based on which he is likely to go to the Tokyo Olympics, expected to start in July this year.

According to the WTA, a special ranking is a ranking freeze assigned to a player who is ruled out of the competition for a minimum period of six months due to a medical condition. When a player is out of the competition for more than 52 weeks, he gets a ranking freeze for 3 years based on the last tournament played. Within this 3-year period, the player can enter 12 tournaments using their protected rankings (1 Grand Slam / Olympics and 1 WTA 1000 mandatory event).

Sania has been out of the competition for more than 52 weeks, which is from October 2017 and returned to the competition in January 2020 last year when she returned to win her first doubles tournament in almost 2 years.

Sania’s competition period began in October 2017 with an application for a special ranking of 9. In October 2018 she finished her pregnancy period and started caring for parents with a time limit of 104 weeks (October 2018 – October 2020).

Promoted

He made his comeback in January 2020 and entered three tournaments, including the Australian Open, before the coronovirus epidemic partially ended the tennis season. During this time, the competition deadline has been extended for an additional 52 weeks, thus extending Sania’s protected rankings to October 2021.

He has nine tournaments remaining, including the Tokyo Olympics out of 12, to enter the World No. 9 protected rankings. Therefore, she will receive direct approval in the doubles draw of 32 and can choose anyone as a participant who is ranked inside the top spot. 300 from India till 7 June.