AITA attempts to pacify Leander Paes – Tennis News
All Indian Tennis Association has failed to stamp their authority and finally bowed down to the criticism from all over the globe about their decision of sending one strong team instead of two weak teams to the London Olympics,
contested later this year. They have decided to send Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna as a team and tied Leander Paes with a 206th ranked player, Vishnu Vardhan.
Paes was extremely unhappy from the decision of the All Indian Tennis Association so a senior selector, Rohit Rajpal, is sent to London to pacify the veteran doubles specialist on Thursday. It was a tough decision for the selectors
who tried to make a strong team by pairing Bhupathi with Paes and strip Bopanna of an Olympian title. However, the stubborn criticism and denial from the duo of Bhupathi and Bopanna forced the officials to sustain their partnership and send a low ranked player
with Paes.
Father of Paes, Vece, is reported to have said that the five-time Olympian son will not participate in the Olympics having partnered with a low-ranked player due to the plotted blackmailing move from Bhupathi and Bopanna that might
strip India from winning a gold medal in Wimbledon.
However, the list is finalized and sent to the officials of Olympics. Nothing can be changed now and Paes has to obey the orders of All India Tennis Association. They fought for him and had a strong stance against the team of Bhupathi-Bopanna;
however, the strong criticism pressurized them to change their decision at the last moment.
AITA president, Anil Khanna stated,”We understand that Paes is upset and it was evident from the letter he sent us yesterday. We can only apologise to him and hope he does not pull out of the Olympics.” He admitted the fact that
Bhupathi and Bopanna were wrong in twisting the Association’s initial decision in their favour.
It’s a sad day in the history of tennis in sub-continent. Few players contest at elite platforms from this part of the world and there are conflicts amongst them as well. Bopanna was a long-time partner of Pakistan’s tennis superstar,
Aisam-ul-Haq. However, he broke up with him and partnered with Bhupathi who played with Paes before that. So, all this drama was expected and it ended with Paes being the victim despite being the top ranked sub-continent doubles player. Maybe the efforts to
pacify the veteran might help him cool down but chances of winning a medal are crushed completely.
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