It would not be harsh enough to compare the current Indian Tennis scenario with a drama. A lot has transpired over the last week with Indian tennis players threatening to pull out of the London Olympics if they are not paired with partners of their choice, criticizing each other publicly amongst other things.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) after a marathon meeting, which spanned more than three days, finally came out with the solution which somewhere shows their toothless administration.
The whole controversy arose after Leander Paes, ranked World number 7 in doubles, was teamed up with Mahesh Bhupathi for the London Olympics. But Bhupathi and subsequently Rohan Bopanna refused to play with Paes citing that the two have been preparing to play in Olympics and were underprepared to team up with Paes.
Paes in turn, who wanted to be paired with either of these players, when learnt that the two players are not ready to team up with him, threatened to pull out the Games if asked to play with a lower ranked player to accommodate Bhupathi- Bopanna as a team.
With so much happening, AITA was pushed to the wall and finally came up with a solution to send Bhupathi-Bopanna as a pair whereas Paes- Vishnu Vardhan would be another team and as a consolation AITA said Paes would get to play the mixed doubles with Sania Mirza, provided she gets a wildcard entry. Now the settlement did please Bopanna-Bhupathi but not Leander who has threatened to pull out of London Olympics.
To pacify and persuade the 1996 Olympic bronze medallist, Rohit Rajpal, one of the selectors, has now gone to London to set things right. Now amidst all these, the million dollar question that arises is isn’t AITA the apex body of tennis in India and all players are supposed to follow the guidelines laid by the association? The players might be under ATP or WTA and any action taken by the Association would not affect them much, but then when it comes to Olympics players would have to follow the country's association.
It would not have been so bad had AITA dealt the situation with strong hand and done whatever they thought was for the betterment of the country. But then they gave into the pressure tactics adopted by the players and now after they have announced the decision, they still are not sure what is going to happen at the Olympics.
They have publicly claimed that the decision is unfair to Paes and requested him to forgive the utterances of the last few days of some of the persons which were based only on half truth. They are also contemplating disciplinary sanctions against Bhupathi and Bopanna after the Olympics.
Now AITA on Wednesday said that the decision has been taken in the best interest of the players and the nation. Well does it look like that? After so much controversy, will the players be able to put everything behind and perform to their best capacity.
Well AITA somewhere down the line has favoured Paes and when they could not get things done his way, they are now requesting him the forget and forgive and also claimed that this decision is unfair to him.
Well how is the decision unfair? Did not Vishnu win medals at the Beijing Asian Games 2010? Yes it is well known that that Vishnu still has a long way to go to reach Leander’s level, but then he did make the start and he needs to carry on to go the next level. And it was not like Paes started his career with a medal in Olympics and even he took time to reach that spot.
And why not a new partner because on last four Olympics Bhupathi-Paes played as team and failed to secure a medal and the time has indeed come to move on and try new avenues. And Paes, who won an individual medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and is considered a true patriot, really should not have threatened to pull if he was paired with some youngster and if Bhupathi- Bopanna go as a team. Why should Paes have a problem with that? Here it shows that more than anything he is thinking about gratification of his ego and even he knows if two teams travel to London this year, then the chances would be more.
And for Bhupathi-Bopanna, their petty differences and gratification of ego became more than the country’s interest when they publicly showed displeasure to partner with Paes. Was that expected from players who want to represent the country at the highest level of sports?
Over the last few days whatever happened, it does make everyone ponder if these players really want to represent the country or sooth their personal egos. Because if they had kept their personal differences aside and thought for the interest of the country then they would have buried the hatchet and accepted the association’s decision gracefully.
The crisis isn’t over yet. Now the latest buzz is that Paes would play only after a written assurance that Sania would be playing with him if she gets a wildcard. To persuade Paes, national selector has gone London, but now after so much hulla bulla what if Sania denies to play with Paes after she receives wild card. Will there be a new decision and by the way things have happened this possibility cannot be ruled out.
AITA themselves are to be blamed for the tennis mess. What were they thinking in the first place? They should have announced the team and stuck to it. They should not have given in to the blackmailing of the players, no matter what. But then they gave and now they have such a huge problem to deal with.
AITA should have made the decision final and handled the problem with an iron fist. But they crumbled under pressure and it gave rise to such a huge problem. Did AITA set a right example? Tomorrow everyone would stop following AITA’s regulations and do things that please even if it proves detrimental for the country. What would they do then?
AITA should have taken this episode as an example setting medium and should have set precedent that none is bigger than the country’s interest and if you cannot play for the nation then you do not deserve to play.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News
