Indian tennis great and current Bengal Tennis Association (BTA) president Leander Paes has applied to join the All-India Tennis Association roster of Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM), BTA announced on social media on Friday.
According to the AITA’s amended constitution, a roster of 20 male and 20 female SOMs will be prepared, and out of that, two men and two women will be elected to the AITA General Body and will enjoy voting rights. Two SOMs – one man and one woman – will also be part of the 15-member Executive Committee.
SOMs elected to the General Body can apply to be in the EC, and can also contest for the posts of AITA president, general secretary and treasurer.
In fact, AITA started inviting applications from athletes to be part of the SOM roster on August 15, but wrote to the Union Sports Ministry on August 19 seeking to expand the selection criteria.
The National Sports Governance Act prioritises those with significant achievements in Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, but the AITA has requested the addition of Grand Slams, ATP and WTA tournaments, and the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup, all of which carry higher weightage in tennis.
Regardless, Paes will qualify as a Tier 1 SOM, courtesy his watershed singles bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which was India’s first individual medal at the quadrennial extravaganza after K.D. Jadhav’s in 1952.
Published – August 21, 2026 10:49 pm IST
