The 'Indian Express' seek to put aside their differences to have one last try for the ultimate glory- Olympic medal
The desire of an elusive Olympic medal may reunite two of the best Indian tennis stars- Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.
The duo, nicknamed as 'Indian Express' have had many laurels to their name together, but they have failed to win an Olympic medal together. Paes, however won a bronze medal in Singles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
CNN News 18 quoting sources have reported that the duo met few days ago in Mumbai where both expressed their willingness to play together.
The rift between the two began when Paes, who had been Bhupathi's partner for several years, questioned his commitment to Team India following a loss to Chinese Taipei team in the 2006 Asian Games.
Paes once stated in an interview that although he and Bhupathi are friends, he did not consider pairing with his former teammate. However, for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they decided to play together for their country, and lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.
After a gap of 9 years of not playing a Grand Slam, the duo reunited for the 2011 Australian Open and also claimed runners-up spot.
But the 2012 Olympics acted as the last nail in the coffin in their relationship when Bhupathi refused to partner Paes for the Men's Double event. He accused AITA of using Sania Mirza as bait for Leander's participation in the Olympics. After much confusion, AITA decided to send two teams for the Men's Doubles competition.
As a result, Paes had to pair with Vishnu Vardhan at the London Olympics 2012. Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna too participated separately.
However, they lost in the second round to the unseeded French pairing of Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau. Paes and Vardhan too reached the second round of the tournament, losing to eventual silver medalists Michaël Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
Due to this fiasco, Lee- Hesh hasn't even been on talking terms since then.
But now it seems that both have decided to put aside their differences and play for their glory and that of the nation for the Rio Olympics.
Paes, who won an Olympic medal in 1996 Atlanta Olympics, is hoping to set a world record by becoming the only tennis player to play seven Olympic Games.
However, only their consent isn't the thing as both need to qualify for the event first. Indian Women Tennis ace, Sania Mirza, is the only one from the nation to have qualified for Tennis till now.
If the legendary duo doesn't qualify directly (chances are very slim) , they may have to depend on 'Final Qualification Places (ITF Places)' which takes into account ranking of the players among other criterions.
The rule states, " if any of the six (6) ITF Regional Associations do not have a team qualified via Direct Acceptance, the best ranked team from that region will gain a Final Qualification Place, provided their combined rankings do not exceed 300 on the international singles and doubles rankings of 6 June 2016. Priority will be given to the region with the least representation in the singles events."
As of 7th March 2016, Bhupathi is ranked 225 in Men's double's while as of 1st February, Paes is ranked 52 in the same category. Although their combined rank comes to 277, which is within the capping limit of 300, they still have chance to better their position till 6 June 2016.
Rohan Bopanna, who is currently World No 11 in Men's Doubles, is defending 1000 points next week in Madrid and could slip further. He can guarantee another place for India if he finishes in top ten.
However, both Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna are also in contention to partner Sania in the mixed doubles event as well which follows the same rules as that mentioned above.
Let's see if Lee and Hesh indeed decides to play together for Rio 2016. A medal there will be a fitting finale to their glorious careers.
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 "Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes")
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