New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) India’s woman tennis star Sania Mirza will skip the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games here Sunday to keep herself fresh for the mixed doubles first round tie the next day.
The second seeded pair of Leander Paes and Sania are scheduled to take on Saint Lucia’s Stacey Nykita Roheman and Alberton Richelieu in the first round.
‘Sania has a game Monday. She is also taking part in all the three events – singles, doubles and mixed doubles. She needs adequate rest. So I can’t take the risk of letting her attend the march past of the athletes at the opening ceremony,’ team coach Jaideep Mukerjea told IANS.
He said during the opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the competitors would have to wait at the players’ holding area for three hours ahead of the march past. ‘In all, the players have to be there for over five hours’.
Mukerjea said Paes also could stay away, but the final decision will be taken only after he reaches late Saturday night.
