Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi to play in London Olympics together

June 15, 2012

bhupathi_paes

New Delhi, June 15: India will send only one men's doubles tennis team to London for the July Olympics and Indian stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will just have to play together as that team, despite stated differences.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) selectors announced teams for the London Games in Bangalore this evening, making clear that they are focused on quality, not quantity and would like to send a winning combination to London.

Paes, a high number 7 in ATP doubles rankings, is the only Indian tennis player who directly qualifies for the Olympics. But Bhupathi, who is just back after winning the mixed doubles French Open title partnering ace Sania Mirza, had reportedly conveyed to the association that he would rather partner Rohan Bopanna for the London 2012 Games.

The selectors also announced today that they had sought both singles and doubles wildcard entries for Sania Mirza and a doubles wildcard for Rushmi Chakravarty.

Paes and Bhupathi for years have been India's most prolific doubles combination, but the relationship has been marred by many splits and they have been much more apart than together as years have gone by.

Officially Bhupathi insists that he has not refused to partner Paes in the Olympics and said he would only comment after the team was announced. But sources say he is upset that he and Paes are being forced to partner and is considering asking the government to intervene.

Mahesh Bhupathi had written to the Indian Tennis Association before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 too stating that he did not want to play with Paes as he was better prepared with Rohan Bopanna. The AITA had shot down his demand then and asked the duo to ensure that their differences did not hurt India's medal chances. They had joined hands for the Olympics and advanced to the quarterfinals where they were beaten by Switzerland's Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.


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News Network
March 27,2024

IPLbettingsuicide.jpg

Bengaluru: Darshan Babu is an engineer who is fond of betting on cricket matches and has been placing major bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) games since 2021. He often borrows money after losing a bet, or to place one when he is short on funds. His 23-year-old wife, tired of the constant harassment by creditors, died by suicide.

Ranjitha was found hanging at her home in Karnataka's Chitradurga on March 18. According to the family, Darshan had racked up a debt of over Rs 1 crore.

He worked as an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Department at Hosadurga and had been ensnared in the realm of IPL betting from 2021 to 2023. This took a major toll on the couple's finances. Allegedly, he had borrowed over Rs 1.5 crore to place bets after his luck ran out and he lost all his money. While he managed to return Rs 1 crore, cops say that he still has a pending loan of ₹ 84 lakh.

Ranjitha married Darshan in 2020. She realised the truth about Darshan's involvement in betting in 2021, claims her father Venkatesh.

In his complaint, Venkatesh said that his daughter was extremely distressed due to the constant harassment by moneylenders and this led to her suicide. He has also named 13 men who had allegedly lent the money.

He said that his son-in-law was lured into betting with a promise of quick money.

"He (Darshan) was not willing to get into betting, but the suspects forced him saying it was an easy way to get rich. They promised to finance his betting activities against some blank cheques as security," he said.

Cops during their investigation found a suicide note, where she detailed the harassment they faced. Darshan and Ranjitha have a two-year-old son.

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