The Hindu : Sport : Paes, most successful male player

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Friday, Dec 15, 2006
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Paes, most successful male player

Kamesh Srinivasan

The famed Indian doubles pair owes more to the Indian fans

— PHOTO: AFP

WINNING MOMENTS: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi banked on their experience to pull off a fine win in the final.

DOHA: It was a golden climax for Leander Paes as he emerged the most successful male tennis player at the Asian Games on Wednesday.

The mixed doubles title that was won after a lot of drama was the second gold for Leander — partnering Sania he defeated Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami of Japan 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 for the mixed doubles gold — after he had defended the doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi.

In the process, Leander took his tally to six medals, four gold and two bronze in Asian Games. Mahesh took his tally to five, which includes two gold, a silver and two bronze medals.

"I really wanted to add another gold. It was tough because we had both played a match already,'' said Leander.

"I thought that after he had played so many matches, he would be tired. But, he didn't seem to be. He played really well,'' said the Japanese, Satoshi Iwabuchi.

Sania excited

"Sania was aggressive and Paes was unbelievable,'' acknowledged Iwabuchi's mixed doubles partner in the final, Akiko Morigami.

Sania was equally excited. It was a path-breaking exercise for the 20-year-old from Hyderabad to take the women's team to its first ever medal in the Asian Games.

"It is very emotional to win a gold medal for the country. I am just relieved that I won. After the singles I was very tired, but I finally won a gold after three finals,'' said Sania.

"This medal means a lot to me, as I had gone through a lot of emotions through the week. It was an unbelievable experience to win the gold in an unbelievable atmosphere. We have fought many match points a few times, but to come back and do it in the current situation was great," said Mahesh, as he summed up his emotions.

Lifetime memories

The trio gave us memories of a lifetime, and the thousands of Indians at the centre court sang the national anthem en masse — an unusual experience even back home — in a fitting climax that was watched on television in India by millions with pride and joy.

Yet, public memory is short. The victories, though rare, are forgotten in a hurry as people latch on to the controversies and the ugly side of the heroes.

Yes, Mahesh was relieved that he was able to deliver the gold and silence his critics, but injudiciously opted to open the Pandora box all over again, by saying that he would not like to play with Leander any more after all the bad vibes over the week.

Offended

Obviously Mahesh was upset that at the very start of the Indian campaign both captain Leander and coach Nandan Bal had gone to the media to attack him after just one bad match against the Chinese Taipei in the team competition.

He felt that it was unethical to have gone public on the subject, spoiling the mood in the team. To single him out when both had played bad was tough to digest.

Mahesh reserved his comments and broke open once the golden campaign concluded. The question was did Mahesh have to defend himself with words.

Maybe, the provocation, though ill advised, fired up Mahesh. It was a fact that he was struggling with his fitness and indifferent touch. He had enough incentive to bend his problematic back that much harder to provide a fabulous finish since his credentials had been questioned.

Pity indeed

It is a pity that every time they elevate themselves to a pedestal with class acts that make us feel proud, especially on foreign soil, both Leander and Mahesh bring themselves crashing down to earth by their own words.

Who knows, the more they fight off court, the better they get on court. Maybe, that is a way of honing your fighting qualities, though not so nice to practise.

Never mind their comments. Get ready to cheer them to the Olympic gold in Beijing. Whether they like playing together or not, Leander and Mahesh owe that much to the adoring Indian fans.

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