Electoral Officer Rajeev Sharma (IAS Retd.) has released the official Form-3 Consolidated Lists of Nominations for the Sportsperson of Outstanding Merit (SOM) seats in the 2026 All India Tennis Association (AITA) elections. Exactly 8 former international players (4 men and 4 women) have entered the November 7, 2026 poll for 4 General Body seats, with 5 of those contenders also battling for 2 seats on the 15-member Executive Committee—while 18-time Grand Slam champion Leander Paes (Electoral Roll #1) conspicuously opted out of filing, closing his pathway to the November 27 presidential race under Rule 12B.
Beyond the candidate names, the proposer and seconder columns on the October 25 Form-3 sheets reveal 2 distinct alliances inside the 40-player SOM Electoral Roll (which is divided into 20 men at Serial Numbers 1 to 20 and 20 women at Serial Numbers 21 to 40).
As Indian Tennis Daily reported on October 24, 12-time Grand Slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi (Electoral Roll #2) and 6-time Major champion Sania Mirza (Electoral Roll #21) have entered the race on a shared 10-to-15-year reform blueprint. On both the Executive Committee and General Body Form-3 sheets, Bhupathi and Mirza formally proposed each other. Their nominations were seconded by 2 fellow General Body contenders—Shalini Thakur Chawla (Electoral Roll #29) seconded Bhupathi, and Ashutosh Singh (Electoral Roll #14) seconded Mirza—while both Chawla and Ashutosh Singh stayed out of the Executive Committee ballot to leave Bhupathi and Mirza a clear run at the 2 Executive Committee seats.
A parallel triangle of nominations unites the other 3 Executive Committee contenders: Billie Jean King Cup captain Vishal Uppal (Electoral Roll #12) was proposed by Janaki Krishnamoorthy (#26) and seconded by Ankita Bhambri (#23); Ankita Bhambri was proposed by her sister Prerna Bhambri (#40) and seconded by Vishal Uppal (#12); and Janaki Krishnamoorthy was proposed by Radhika Aditya Kanitkar (#31) and seconded by former Davis Cup coach Nandal Bal (#8). Meanwhile, 7-time Asian Games medalist Gaurav Natekar (#6) filed solely for the General Body, proposed by Pune Davis Cup colleague Sandeep Sanjay Kirtane (#7) and seconded by Sohini Kumari (#25).
| Sl. No. | Candidate & City | Electoral Roll # | Proposer (Roll #) | Seconder (Roll #) | Contest Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankita Bhambri (New Delhi) | #23 | Prerna Bhambri (#40) | Vishal Uppal (#12) | Women’s EC Seat (1 of 3) |
| 2 | Janaki Krishnamoorthy (Bengaluru) | #26 | Radhika Aditya Kanitkar (#31) | Nandal Bal (#8) | Women’s EC Seat (1 of 3) |
| 3 | Mahesh Bhupathi (Mumbai) | #2 | Sania Mirza (#21) | Shalini Thakur Chawla (#29) | Men’s EC Seat (1-on-1 vs Uppal) |
| 4 | Sania Mirza (Hyderabad) | #21 | Mahesh Bhupathi (#2) | Ashutosh Singh (#14) | Women’s EC Seat (1 of 3) |
| 5 | Vishal Uppal (New Delhi) | #12 | Janaki Krishnamoorthy (#26) | Ankita Bhambri (#23) | Men’s EC Seat (1-on-1 vs Bhupathi) |
| Sl. No. | Candidate & City | Electoral Roll # | Proposer (Roll #) | Seconder (Roll #) | Contest Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankita Bhambri (New Delhi) | #23 | Prerna Bhambri (#40) | Vishal Uppal (#12) | Women’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
| 2 | Ashutosh Singh (New Delhi) | #14 | Shivika Burman (#37) | Sweta Solanki (#39) | Men’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
| 3 | Gaurav Natekar (Pune) | #6 | Sandeep Sanjay Kirtane (#7) | Sohini Kumari (#25) | Men’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
| 4 | Janaki Krishnamoorthy (Bengaluru) | #26 | Radhika Aditya Kanitkar (#31) | Nandal Bal (#8) | Women’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
| 5 | Mahesh Bhupathi (Mumbai) | #2 | Sania Mirza (#21) | Shalini Thakur Chawla (#29) | Men’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
| 6 | Sania Mirza (Hyderabad) | #21 | Mahesh Bhupathi (#2) | Ashutosh Singh (#14) | Women’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
| 7 | Shalini Thakur Chawla (Gurgaon) | #29 | Renuka Keswani (#38) | Vishika Chhetri Sharma (#33) | Women’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
| 8 | Vishal Uppal (New Delhi) | #12 | Janaki Krishnamoorthy (#26) | Ankita Bhambri (#23) | Men’s GB (2 of 4 elected) |
The biggest surprise on the October 25 Form-3 sheets is the absence of Electoral Roll #1: 18-time Grand Slam champion and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Leander Paes. On September 7, 2026, the Bengal Tennis Association (BTA) formally passed a resolution calling on Paes to contest for AITA President, pointing to his inclusion in Tier 1 of the 40-player SOM electoral roll as his launchpad into national tennis governance.
Under Rule 12B of AITA’s amended constitution, any candidate contesting for President, Secretary General, or Treasurer at the November 27, 2026 Executive Committee elections must either have served 1 full 4-year term as a state association office-bearer OR be an elected SOM representative in the General Body. Because Paes only became President of the Bengal Tennis Association in November 2025 (under 1 year ago), winning 1 of the 2 men’s SOM General Body seats on November 7 was his only statutory pathway to contest the presidency. With both Paes and former World No. 1 doubles champion Rohan Bopanna choosing not to file Form-3 nominations, Mahesh Bhupathi (#2) and Sania Mirza (#21) stand as the only Grand Slam champions on the November 7 ballot.
The November 7 SOM election is the product of a 2-year legal and structural battle to bring active player voice into Indian tennis administration. In September 2024, former India Davis Cuppers Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court challenging AITA’s election procedures under the National Sports Development Code. As highlighted in our October 16 governance column, the Delhi High Court placed the 2024 ballot in a sealed cover and appointed Retd. Justice Gita Mittal as Administrator after player Right to Information (RTI) filings raised accountability concerns across state affiliates and the AITA Trust.
Following the enactment of the National Sports Governance framework and AITA’s July 2026 Extraordinary General Meeting constitutional overhaul, 4 voting seats in the General Body (2 men and 2 women) and 2 seats on the 15-member Executive Committee (1 man and 1 woman) were reserved for Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit. The 40-member SOM electoral college will cast its ballots on November 7, 2026, setting the stage for the full AITA office-bearer and Executive Committee elections on November 27, 2026.
