Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi & Rohan Bopanna

New Delhi: The controversy over the selection of the Indian doubles team for the London Olympics remained unresolved on Tuesday even after the sports ministry agreed that it was the prerogative of the national association to pick the best combination for the mega event.

In a day of dramatic developments, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) managed to convince the sports ministry that it was beyond the government’s brief to question the selectors’ decision. However, they have been unsuccessful in their renewed attempt to pursue either Mahesh Bhupathi or Rohan Bopanna to partner Leander Paes at the Games.

Minutes after the AITA told the ministry officials why it was necessary to send only one team to the Olympics, the AITA officials went into a meeting at its south Delhi headquarters. The meeting concluded around midnight and will resume Wednesday morning.

Insiders said that AITA president Anil Khanna, secretary Bharat Oza and selector Rohit Rajpal held series of teleconferences with all the three top players, but no solution could be reached till late on Tuesday night.

A senior official, however, informed The Telegraph that they were close to solving the impasse. “There are some breakthroughs... But nothing is final yet. We are also not ruling out the possibility of sending two teams in the end,” the official said in a rather hushed tone.

While president Khanna said he would once again try to convince Bhupathi or Bopanna to play with Paes, sources claimed Bhupathi was unlikely to change his decision even though the AITA was planning to send its emissary to London to meet the players.

“Mahesh is absolutely adamant about his decision not to play with Paes,” said a former player close to Bhupathi. “Even a ban-threat would not be enough to make Mahesh toe the AITA line,” he said.

Earlier, the change of stance by the ministry came less than 24 hours after it ripped apart the selection process and asked the AITA to explain why two teams would not be send to London.

Sports minister Ajay Maken said he was in no mood to interfere in the selection process and did it only because some “prominent and iconic” players brought to his notice certain issues concerning selection. In any case, he added, it was for the AITA to pick the team keeping national interest in mind.

Oza, in his written reply to Maken, said that “asking Paes to pair with a junior player (Yuki Bhambri or Vishnu Vardhan) would be the most inappropriate decision.” Elaborating the five options, Oza wrote: “Ask the players to follow the decision of the selection committee. This means that Paes should play with Bhupathi.

The second option said that in case Bhupathi does not want to play with Paes, Bopanna should play with Paes.

The third option is of two Indian pairs at London. Paes would pair up with either Bhambri or Vardhan and Bhupathi could team up with Bopanna.

As per the fourth option, if Leander decides not to go to Olympics with a lower-ranked player, only Bhupathi and Bopanna will represent India. The AITA, in their final option, said that disciplinary actions should be taken against Bhupathi and Bopanna for not respecting the decision of the selection committee.