Noventi Open: Rohan Bopanna-Divij Sharan pair ousted after quarter-final loss

Halle: India's Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan were knocked out of the Noventi Open men's doubles event after suffering a straight-set quarterfinal loss here. The Indian pair went down 3-6, 6-7 to the sixth-seeded Belgian duo of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, failing to advance to the semifinals of the event on Thursday. Bopanna and Sharan, who are waiting to know if they will make the cut at the Tokyo Olympics as a team, had got the better of second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Edouard Roger Vasselin in the second round of the Euro 14,55,925 tournament that marked the beginning of the grass-court season. While the 41-year-old Bopanna is ranked 38th, the left-handed Sharan is placed as low as 75th for a combined rank of 113th on June 14, the cut-off date for rankings to be considered for entries at the Tokyo Olympics. The Indian pair needs a lot of withdrawals from other nations to make the cut due to its low combined ranking.