Can Sumit Nagal qualify for Paris Olympics?

Sumit Nagal, who has been going through a purple patch recently, is on the verge of securing an automatic qualification to the forthcoming Paris Olympics.

Nagal, currently competing at the Heilbronner Neckarcup in Germany, which is a part of the ATP Challenger 100 event, will face world no. 184 Alexander Ritschard of Switzerland in the final at 6:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).

The Lawn Tennis competition at the Olympics will see 64 players participating for the ultimate glory, with Nagal being the lone Indian who remains in the hunt for a direct qualification spot.

The automatic qualification list for tennis is scheduled to be out by tomorrow, which is June 10. The top 56 players in the ATP rankings will qualify for the Olympics, but there is a limit of four players per country.

The remaining eight places go to continental quotas, universality places and spots for previous gold medalists and Grand Slam winners.

Coming to Nagal’s chance to play in the Olympics. He is currently ranked 88 on the live ranking list. And if he wins against Ritschard today, he will rise to 77. But a loss will leave him remain stagnant at 88.

As there is a maximum limit of four players per country, this comes as a blessing for Nagal taking his rank to 56th in the Olympics ranking list subject to his win today against the Swiss man.

If Nagal succumbs to a loss his aggregate rank would be 67th in the Olympics list, which just put him out of contention and makes him dependent on withdrawals of other athletes from the games for the direct quota.

Nagal's quest for securing a spot in the biggest sporting spectacle on the earth stands on the edge.