Asian Games 2018: Indian Tennis Men’s Team Sponsors Forgot to Give them Pockets in Shorts

The Indian tennis players Rohan Boppana and Divvij Sharan were forced to turn up on the court on Thursday at the semi-finals of the Asian Games 2018 with a tape on their shorts to hide the names of their personal sponsors. The shorts provided by the sponsors did not have pockets and were unusable. Tennis players cannot do away without pockets in shorts. The Indian Olympic Association instructed the players that they were not allowed to wear shorts belonging to another brand other than Li Ning. The players were left with no choice than to hide the name of their personal sponsor.

“It is not at all the fault of the tennis players. They have been wearing the official kit even in training. But since there are no pockets in shorts, they have no option but to wear what they have. There is no time to fix this with the competition about to end in two days time," said a source in the IOA to DNA.

It could be an oversight on the part of the kit suppliers, however, it would have been the best if the IOA could have spotted the error before the kits were delivered to the tennis team. Talking about the on-going tournament, the latest news from Jakarta is that Indian team settled for a Bronze medal in Kabaddi after defeated by Iran by  27-18. This is the first time that the seven-time champions have failed to get a Gold Medal in the sport. India’s wrestler Sushil Kumar and shooter Manu Bhaker failed to make it to the podium. Check out India’s medal tally here.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 23, 2018 06:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).