When a first timer, literally an unsung hero, Indian army sharp shooter Vijay Kumar, could make it to winning a silver medal in the men's 25-metre rapid fire pistol event in his first Olympics attempt at London, even after fighting a nerve-wracking battle with five other top marksmen, why did the senior Olympians in the Indian tennis failed to do so?
“Playing any sport and at any event, including Olympics, is really about honour, glory and about the country. But the big names Indian tennis players failed to bring laurels, not just for themselves but also to the county, thanks to their individual ambitions, individual egos and a sudden bitterness that has crept into a personal relationship,” says an official of Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh.
For the uninitiated, Leander Pace made his consecutive Olympic appearances from 1992 to 2012, Mahesh Bhupathi played his fifth Olympics at London 2012 and Sania Mirza represented India at Olympics since 2008.
“The conflict between Paes and Bhupathi had been a major talking point in the Indian sport, and even five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand weighed into the debate recently, saying the ‘affair’ had been mishandled,” he further says.
Had they thought of not just representing themselves but representing the sport and the country, they could have won medals both in doubles and mixed doubles at the London Olympics. However, they ended up making the country look at the darker side of life, at their pretty jealousies, he laments.
“After winning 25 grand slams together, Paes and Bhupathi suddenly appeared brats, appeared to be at each other’s throats, calling each other back-stabbers and liars. After their failure at the London Olympics because of their personal egos, what should the country call them now? They should have played for their love for their sport ... and their love for their country ... after all those wonderful chest bumps, the grand slams that they won so far. However, they ended up playing love-all (the proper way to describe a score of zero to zero in ball games like tennis),” says one sports connoisseur from Bangalore.
