The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has backtracked and named Mahesh Bhupathi and his regular partner Rohan Bopanna a team at the London Olympics. Top doubles player Leander Paes has been paired with Vishnu Vardhan, but it appears the controversy is not over.
BBC World is quoting Paes' father Vece as saying that Leander will refuse to partner with Vardhan, even though AITA extended a an olive branch by naming Leander as India's male mixed doubles player to pair with Sania Mirza, who won the Roland Garros mixed title with Bhupathi. However, Mirza still needs a wild card to get into the Olympics, and said in Paris that she would rather pair with Bhupathi. She has yet to speak about the AITA's decision.
Bhupathi and Bopanna had both refused to play with Paes, who ended his pairing with Bhupathi last year in a decision that angered his partner, who he had won three Grand Slam doubles titles with in the late 1990s.
"The AITA agrees that this decision is unfair to Paes...but in the given circumstances, which is not 100 percent tennis circumstance, this is the best option," president Anil Khanna Khanna told reporters. "Leander is undoubtedly the most patriotic player...AITA holds him in very high esteem and appeals to him to accept this decision."
Vece Paes countered: "Things have changed drastically over the past two days. Leander has always compromised while playing for the country. I think now he is tired of doing that. Two people are blackmailing the country and this decision sets a bad precedent for others."
Bhupathi and Bopanna released a statement that they were delighted with the decision. "The events of the last few days have been extremely challenging. In making each of our decisions, we were guided by our strong convictions regarding what we believed was fair and we are pleased that this is reflected in the outcome. We are excited that we will be playing together at the Olympics."