Click to play videoNew Delhi: India's tennis stars Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes are heading for yet another showdown with just over two months to go for the Beijing Olympics.
Bhupathi may have closed the door on their partnership but Leander Paes hasn't given up hope. Speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN, Leander urged Bhupathi to reconsider his decision not to pair up for the Beijing Olympics.
“I find that Mahesh and myself have lot of differences of opinions off the court but when it comes to on court there is no hiding the fact that we are the best team. I urge Mahesh to reconsider his decision that he has made and to put our differences aside,” he said.
Bhupathi has told the All India Tennis Association (AITA) that he has run out of patience and does not want to play alongside Leander.
The exclusive e-mail sent by Bhupathi to the Indian Olympic Association, in which Bhupathi said:
"While people who don't really understand tennis are willing to force us to play together to win a medal, you will agree that we are not magicians and a medal will not happen just because we step on court. I would prefer to play with Rohan Bopanna in Beijing, we do have a good relationship and we are planning to play a couple of events over the next few months."
Reacting to the letter sent by Bhupati, Leander said, “If Mahesh really feels that playing tournaments is more important than training I would have liked him to come directly to me. And if I feel that training is more important I would go directly to him. But the fact is that the email was written directly to IOA and not to me shows where the communication is.”
Leander and Mahesh raised hopes of pairing up again for an assault on the Olympic gold. Infact, earlier this year Mahesh had even said that him pairing up with Leander was India's best chance for a medal at Beijing.
The IOA refused to comment on the issue but the Tennis Association is convinced that the only Indian pairing that will play in Beijing will be Leander and Mahesh.
“Lot of this comes as real surprise be it the Olympics comes as a surprise, be it the Davis Cup comes as a surprise - I feel that eight years that we have put together won so many grand slams together, being number one together, its really sad that this is going on and its unfortunate,” Leander said.
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