AITA boss Anil Khanna loses ITF presidential election

Santiago, Chile: All India Tennis Association (AITA) President Anil Khanna's bid to become ITF President ended in disappointment as he lost the election by mere eight votes to US candidate David Haggerty.

Khanna managed 192 votes to 200 garnered by Haggerty in a close second round while two other candidiates -- Juan Margets (ESP) and Rene Stammbach (SUI) were eliminated in the first round.

The election was held on the third and concluding day of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the world governing body of the game.

Haggerty will replace Francesco Ricci Bitti, who has decided to step down after 16 years in office.

The Indian administrator, whose election as AITA President is in violation to Sports Code according to the Sports Ministry, is also contesting to retain his seat on the influential ITF Board of Directors. There are 13 posts on the Board for a four year term till 2019.

The AGM also approved introduction of fifth-set tie break in the Davis Cup matches.

Khanna has always been critical of the way the current ATP set up works, saying it was heavily loaded in favour of only top-100 players, who are mostly from Europe.

Khanna is also President of Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) but his efforts to begin a closed circuit for the Asian players did not yield desired results.