The ban has been timed cunningly. They could have been banned before the olympics itself, if their refusal to accept the pairings decided by AITA was the reason, but were not. Now that they could not win a medal in olympics and public opinion would be against them, they are banned. Imagine, could the AITA have banned them had they won a medal ? Obviously NO.
The AITA tried to drive a wedge ??, and you Mr MB became a part of it?? No fault that from you???
Did not speak out all this years and was part of the misdeeds. Only after the ban that puts the rest of your career in an undeclared end, want to pass the buck to Khanna. Know that some proof is required to follow the legal course? Any of that you have will clearly open to the world your own wrongs and how far you are on your self claimed rights.
The wrongs if any from AITA would have been known to LP also and he is not someone like you to wait. The true picture would have been known then itself. He had openly stated that he was ready to play with MB or RB in the Olympics. It was you who said a clear no and had RB also on your side and saying the same words. The rift was from you and not AITA.
The world and not just India knows what you did and said before the olympics. Rohit rajpal had to meet LP in London (No contact from AITA theory???) before the games and talks were on with you as well but you had RB also on your side. The zero effort and no talks was from you and you alone while you believed in press statements and blackmailing then, as you are doing now.
Bhupathi is right. Its his choice to partner with Bopanna as he thought it was the best chance of winning medal for country. How can AITA dictate Bhupathi to play against his wish ? Is he AITA's slave? Really cheap treatment from AITA. In any case,not partnering with Paes is the right choice as they never won a medal for India before. It's because Paes ego was hurt that he used his influence to ban Bhupathi. I had some respect for Paes but he will be remembered for this shameful fiasco.
Re: Paes Bhupathi
by praveenp rao on Sep 18, 2012 04:39 PM
Well said.That is exactly what I wanted to say.I always thought Paes influenced this decision.
Re: Paes Bhupathi
by Harikishore Devireddy on Sep 18, 2012 04:44 PM
Dear Mr Vijay, you must understand that in tennis when you are playing for the country, you must perform under the aegis of the concerned tennis body. Olympics is not a grand slam event where you play for your own sake. Mahesh Bhupathi's behavior merits a life ban forget about a 2 year ban. It would have been better had he simply opted out of the Olympics rather than dragging Bopanna's name into the scandal. One should note that Paes-Bhupathi were one of the all time great doubles team not so long ago. They could have won a medal for India had they been more magnanimous. But more than medals, what is most important is to have a sense of decorum and not to wash dirty linen in public
Re: Paes Bhupathi
by Harikishore Devireddy on Sep 18, 2012 04:44 PM
Dear Mr Vijay, you must understand that in tennis when you are playing for the country, you must perform under the aegis of the concerned tennis body. Olympics is not a grand slam event where you play for your own sake. Mahesh Bhupathi's behavior merits a life ban forget about a 2 year ban. It would have been better had he simply opted out of the Olympics rather than dragging Bopanna's name into the scandal. One should note that Paes-Bhupathi were one of the all time great doubles team not so long ago. They could have won a medal for India had they been more magnanimous. But more than medals, what is most important is to have a sense of decorum and not to wash dirty linen in public
Re: Paes Bhupathi
by kunal on Sep 18, 2012 05:06 PM
What you are saying is like MS Dhoni putting a list of XI players on the table of the selectors and playing (with the rest also) only and only if they are selected. or better still Virendra sehwag or Zaheer khan putting his own personal choice for the other end or not playing for India.
Re: Paes Bhupathi
by Ananya Gupta on Sep 18, 2012 05:52 PM
Dear Mr Vijay - in a team game the team is selected by the selectors and not by the players ! Imagine if MS Dhoni gave the list of players he wants to play and then refuses to listen to selectors????
well done AITA. however it came a bit late. it should have come before the London games when these two were in their elements of blackmailing.the whole tennis world saw a sorry figure of Indian sports then. It was all because of these two
My sympathies with you Mahesh. Half of the ppl commenting here dont have any clue about Tennis. Its common sense that when you cant see eye to eye with your partner you cannot play as a team. Paes played a dirty game of being silent and looking like the victim in front of the media. You gave your best shot at the Olympics and if did not work out so be it.
Re: AITA is run by businessmen and bureucrats
by girish gupta on Sep 18, 2012 06:11 PM
tell me one thing India is big or Mahesh Bhupathi. He simply refused to play in olympics jsut becuase of his ego, when paes was ready then why he turned his back. MB deserves a life ban
I don't know much about Mahesh Bhupathi. But his refusing to play with somebody attracts penal action. India should not have sent him and Bhopanna as Olympic contesting team. Even two years ban on them also is a lighter punishment considering the gravity of indiscipline committed by him.
