All India Tennis Association announced that Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will team up for the upcoming London Olympics, but by the look of things it is not certain that they will actually turn up a doubles pair, says a report in The Times of India. The report states that Bhupathi in a TV interview said that it was 'the worst possible in the interest of the country.'
Together Bhupathi and Bopanna have made a joint statement saying, “We have worked tirelessly on our pairing, choosing to break winning partnerships and put aside personal interests to combine forces to represent the nation. We have maintained our position as one of the top men's doubles teams in the world. We have repeatedly communicated to the AITA our desire to be considered for selection only as a team. To not send one of the best tennis teams in the world to the Olympics and to instead nominate one that has had four previous unsuccessful attempts fails to put the interests of the nation first.”
Mahesh Bhupathi is furious by the decision made by All India Tennis Association (AITA) of teaming him with Leander Paes, says a report in The Indian Express. Bhupathi was furious that AITA did not opt for two teams and said that the decision had something more to it than what meets the eyes.
Bhupathi said that he and Paes have a poor record in Olympics as the four times that they have competed they have not won a medal. Bhupathi in a TV interview said that Paes publicly and privately stabbed him in November last year and they have no camaraderie.
A report in the Daily Mail says that All India Tennis Association (AITA) will take action and won’t send the players if they refuse to play with each other. The comments came after Bhupathi said in a TV interview that it was worst possible in the interest of the country. AITA said that any new pair including Bhupathi-Bopanna has not done well so they had to pick the best pair which is Bhupathi-Paes.
AITA also made it clear that the pair gets paid by the government for their training and they cannot refuse to play.
