Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi finally part ways
By M S Unnikrishnan

NOW that the news is “official”, coming as it does from the horse’s mouth (read Leander Paes), about the split of the best doubles tennis duo, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi,it will be worthwhile to dwell a little deep into the genesis of the trouble, which eventually led to the parting of ways by the talented players.

And in this whole drama (melodrama, if you please) poor Enrico Piperno seems to have been made a red-herring. Leander has squarely blamed Mahesh’s coach and confidant Piperno, a former Davis Cupper himself, for engineering the split. But if at all Piperno has contributed anything to the split, it cannot be as serious as Leander and his father, former hockey Olympian, Dr Vece Paes, would want us to believe.

In fact, the genesis of the friction between the two talented tennis players apparently took root two years ago when Leander opted to skip the Asia Cup tennis in Delhi, and Mahesh Bhupathi, aided by the young Syed Fazaluddin, brilliantly marshalled the resources, and guided India to trophy triumph. After the triumph, when Mahesh was asked a pointed question whether he would consider playing with a different partner in the doubles, now that Fazaluddin has proved his mettle as a crafty doubles player, the soft-spoken star had replied that he was “not averse to the idea”.

The message was loud and clear: Leander Paes was not indispensable. For, Leander had been getting a bit haughty in his demeanour after his bronze medal winning feat in the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996. Leander was the darling of the media, when he returned to India from Atlanta, with the bronze medal from the singles event, adorning his neck.

India had won an Olympic medal after a gap of about 27 years, and Leander had every reason to be proud of his feat. Understandably, he was the cynosure of all eyes. He was hosted and feted as never before, and in a matter of a few hours, he reportedly made a killing of a cool Rs 25 lakh in endorsements, gift cheques, gifts and other prizes, in New Delhi.

He also grandly announced that he was not yet ready for marriage, and he had a long way to go to further consolidate his career (Leander was going steady with his girl friend, daughter of then Indian Davis non-playing captain Jaideep Mukherjea).

But the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) bosses were not very amused, and overtly elated, at Leander’s feat. They were of course genuinely happy at Leander wining the Olympic medal, but certainly did not go overboard to fete him in Delhi. They kept a studios distance when Leander was being hosted and feted under their very own nose. This irked Leander no end, and his relations with the AITA became hot and cold.

Leander had expected himself to be treated as the numero uno—a status Vijay Amritraj had enjoyed unchallenged for a long time. But the AITA was not prepared to treat Leander like Vijay. Vijay was a player in his own exclusive league. One with talent and charisma, which Leander clearly lacked.

He might not have won too many cups as a player, but Vijay had a unique place in the pantheon of tennis stars. The Borgs, Connors and McEnroes all respected Vijay the man, and the player. He was, in fact, an international ambassador of the game. Naturally, the AITA had a healthy respect for him, despite he having serious difference of opinion with R K Khanna and Company. So Vijay Amritraj was always treated with awe and respect.

But the AITA was not prepared to extend the same courtesy to Leander. This led to a gradual worsening of relations between Leander and the federation, and when Bhupathi led India to the Asia Cup title, sans Leander, the AITA deftly played its cards to promote Mahesh. this, certainly, did not go down well with the Paes camp. A section of the media also played a partisan role to fuel the fire (and ire), and deepen the wedge between the two players.

As Leander and Mahesh started striking ‘gold’ in the international circuit, culminating in Grand Slam doubles crowns in the French Open and Wimbledon, and brilliant displays in the Australian Open and the US Open, the hatchet men got into work. Their two mature fathers, Dr Vece Paes, and Mr C G Krishna Bhupathi, too did do nothing much to arrest the rot, because both had their fingers in the “vested interest” pie.

When the AITA started giving selective patronage to the tennis promotion ventures of Bhupathi’s Tennis Village in Bangalore and Dr Paes’s Paes-En-Sports, things only got out of hand, instead of healing the wounds.

The wedge was complete when Mahesh decided to skip the last edition of the Asia Cup, following a shoulder surgery. The Paes were not clearly happy with the timing of the surgery, and Leander felt that Mahesh had the tacit support of the AITA in skipping the Asia Cup. For, immediately after the Asia Cup, both Leander and Mahesh were supposedly playing in the Challenger series at Lucknow, Calcutta and Ahmedabad, being promoted by Paes-En-Sports. Without Mahesh, the events lacked sheen, and the Paes allegedly took it as a personal affront.

When it was clear that Mahesh would be skipping the Asia Cup, Leander lost interest, and he played only to lose. In fact, when the first singles was on, Leander walked into the centre court suited and booted. He stood at the sideline for a few minutes while Fazaluddin was slugging it out, and even without giving so much as a glance to non-playing captain Jaideep Mukherjea, disappeared into the dressing room, to emerge only when his turn came to play. It was eventually a story of “he came, he saw, and he forfeited” as Leander played disinterestedly, to lose from winning positions. And Jaideep’s goose had been cooked.

But the genial Jaideep read the message on the wall, and opted to step down, rather that being booted. Enter Ramesh Krishnan as Davis Cup coach, but Mahesh was still not ready to bury the hatchet. He had not recovered from the surgery yet, but it was quite evident that he was giving Leander a long rope to knot up his career.

That the Davis Cup probables went through a two-week long training camp at Bhupathi’s Tennis Village, sans Leander, did not escape the eyes of the discerning. Leander joined the camp only when it was shifted to the National Sports Club of India courts in Delhi.

Paes-En-Sports taking under their wings the newest boy wonder, and national tennis champion from Chandigarh, Sunil Kumar, was also a calculated pre-emptive move, lest he would be snapped up someone else. But the move seems to have slightly harmed Sunil’s career, as he was omitted from the Davis Cup team for the tie against South Korea in Delhi, after being a member of the squad in the tie at Lucknow.

All these factors one way or the other contributed for the distancing of Leander and Mahesh, and the Paes’ insistence on handling the lucrative sponsorship deals of the doubles duo, also did not contribute in consolidating the partnership.

Enrico Piperno must have been the last straw, on the proverbial camel’s back, as Leander finally mustered enough courage to call off the partnership.

“Ego must have played a big role in their breaking up”, said former Davis Cupper and chairman of the National Selection Committee Shyam Minotra. “I feel, they must have had some very serious personal differences for this to happen”, observed Minotra.

But the last word is yet be said on the breakup, and tennis fans fervently hope that they reunite, sooner than later, for the sake of tennis, Indian tennis in particular. They are true icons, and in these days of falling icons, we need the likes of Leander and Mahesh to hoist the national pride to a pedestal.We don’t want them to hoist their own petard! Certainly not.

Putting Indian sport on even keel
By M.G. Devasahayam

IT was cricket’s hour of gloom when Kapil Dev, India’s cricket manager, faced with allegation of corruption and match-fixing against him levelled by former BCCI President Inderjit Singh Bindra, broke down in a BBC interview and wailed in anguish, “ What use is this money?… take away all my money…but restore my pride… I would commit suicide rather than hear this…my family is in trauma”. It was heart rending to see India’s cricket icon and idol of the country’s youth for over two decades, reduced to such depths of despair. The veracity of these allegations, flying high and wild are yet to be established and knowing our CBI, God alone knows how long this will take and how tortuous the process would be. In the meantime across nations irreparable damage has been done to the game of cricket and its ‘super-stars’ that till a few days ago were straddling the fields like colossus. This is bad by itself. But unfortunately in India this damage is not confined to the game of cricket alone but to the entire spectrum of sport, already reeling under the twin burden of mediocrity and non-performance. This is because for the average Indian, more specifically its youth, cricket minus sports is equal to zero and this mindset has been assiduously manipulated and marketed through a lethal combination of money and media. Herein lie the real tragedy for India and the future of sport in the country about which every right thinking citizen need to be concerned about.

Some months ago Kapil Dev was involved in a controversy of sorts when he spoke out about the dismal state of affairs in the Haryana Cricket Association (HCA), accusing it of “non- performance, arbitrariness of functioning and a fiefdom of secrecy.” It was believed that Kapil had launched this attack against the HCA as a “first step towards playing a larger role in the country’s cricket administration”. I, as one who has been a direct victim of the ‘rottenness of India’s sport administration’ and witness to the neglect and marginalisation of sportsmen, had through a column in ‘The Tribune’ urged Kapil Dev to take the plunge. Given his legendary status, I had suggested that he should not confine himself only to cricket, but enlarge the scope to the administration of all sport and games in the country which are reeling under a crisis of leadership.

The reasons, I argued, were not far to seek. As it is, leadership in this country in all walks of life is mediocre and of low calibre. But in the arena of sport, it is far worse, even destructive. I had hailed what Kapil Dev said at that time about the game of cricket which he obviously loved: “If cricketers don’t take charge as administrators, politicians and businessmen will ruin the game” and held it true to the last letter to all sport in the country in a stronger measure. I only hope Kapil Dev is not being made to pay a heavy price with his ‘honour and pride’ for the ‘indiscreet’ act of speaking out against the ‘administrators, politicians and businessmen’ who have taken over all sport in the country and are ruining it with vengeance! Who knows! Given the depth of depravity to which the ‘politics of sport’ has descended in this country it might well turn out to be so. But one should keep one’s counsel till the inquiries are over.

If the sports associations and bodies are dens of non-performing vested interests, the Government machinery in India, both at the Centre and the States, is no better. Except earmarking a pittance for sport development, and perpetually promising grandiose sport policies, Governments have done precious little to genuinely promote sport and games in the country. Sports Authority of India established with all fanfares and which is eating up most of the sports budget is nothing more than a sanctuary of bureaucratic intrigues incapable of even maintaining the infrastructure and assets they have. In their present form and style it is futile to expect any improvement in the working of the sports bodies or government departments in charge of sport. If any, things are going only from bad to worse as is evidenced from our dismal performances in hockey, football, Athletics and other sport. India’s occasional good performance in tennis, billiards, chess etc. are more due to individual and family efforts rather than that of government’s or sports bodies’ efforts. As a nation which has crossed the one billion (one hundred crore) barrier in numbers and is floating in cyber space with the high and the mighty, this indeed is a standing shame. For our youth there is no Carl Lewis or King Pele or Pete Sampras to emulate. They are left with only Hritik Roshans and Shahrukh Khans of this world to root for.

It was in this context that I had advocated the coming together of outstanding sportsmen, professionals and sports lovers to take charge and prevent Indian sport from sinking any further. Since he had raised hopes, I had urged Kapil Dev to take a lead in this and to expand his attention to other sport and games in addition to cricket. And this was for some good reasons. First, cricket being the most popular sports in the country, its stars are national heroes and have a high visibility and public image. Such a profile is essential to take on the vested interests deeply entrenched in the organisations and associations managing the affairs of sports in the country. Second, in the event of the involvement of outstanding sportsmen in the promotion of sports in the country, it will become easier to enlist the support of Industry and Institutions in this venture. Third, such a gesture will come as a balm to the bruised egos of non-cricket sportsmen and women who are smarting under a feeling of public apathy and neglect vis a vis the game of cricket. And last but not the least, it is good for cricket also because it will be difficult for the game to grow and prosper in isolation under a syndrome of ‘monoculture’. But from the way things have turned out to be even this fond hope has been dashed to the ground with Kapil now a fallen idol. It is now a pipedream now to expect any sportsperson to assume leadership position in any of the disciplines.

Be that as it may, it is of no use endlessly bemoaning the fall of Indian cricket, which was an explosive combination of ‘cult, charisma and currency’ and therefore was bound to explode at some time or other. This chest beating is not going to serve any purpose. It is equally futile to expect the CBI to work wonders given the pulls, pressures, limitations and constraints under which they work. At best they may come out with some ‘omnibus’ report after putting cricket and cricket players through months of interrogation and investigation. Neither the ICC nor the BCCI is going to be of much help since the ‘wise men’ running these institutions have more skeletons in the cubboard than they can count. Cricket is best left to the players and its enthusiastic supporters. In good time, with wounds healed, the game will regain its glory.

In the meantime what is really needed is to look beyond cricket and initiate concrete steps to put sport in India on an even keel. Year 2000 has given us two driving factors-one to push and one to pull-to bring this about. These are the cricket disaster that could give the push and the forthcoming ‘first Olympics of the Third Millennium’, where the best of the world’s youth would be on display, providing the pull. Out of the engulfing darkness let some light emerge. Let Indian sport look beyond cricket and achieve something in the International arena that can make Indians proud. This alone could assuage the deep sense of hurt and betrayal, which we all feel in our hearts.

(The author was a former President of the Chandigarh Olympic Association and founder President of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association).

Nursery for golfers
By Pritam Bhullar

LITTLE did the City Beautiful know about four decades ago that its golf course would one day become a nursery for professional golfers. Chandigarh’s golf course, which took birth in the early sixties in Sector 6 as a small nine-hole course, had only ten members to start with. But today, it is bursting at the seams with the number of members having almost reached the figure of 1800, which is not to be exceeded.

In 1966, when Mr Dharama Vira, a keen golfer, came as the Governor of Punjab, he gave some land from the Raj Bhavan to the golf course. After this, three more holes were added to make it a 12-hole course. Then in a few years, the course was turned into an 18-hole ad hoc course. But it was only in 1983 that the course was extended to spread over an area of more than 132 acres of land to become a proper 18-hole and 72 par course.

That a golfer is immune to the scorching heat of the summer and bone-chilling cold of the winter is proved by the fact that the course does not go to sleep at any time of the day throughout the year. The golfers’ Sabbath is on every Monday when the course is closed for heavy maintenance. Incidentally, the average number of golfer playing daily on week days is around 250 and it is about 400 on weekends and holidays.

Happily, the golf tournament of the National Games 2000 will be held at this course. The Chandigarh Golf Club is already holding the Hero Honda Championship among many other fixtures every year. But this year, it also held the All India Civil Services Tournament for the first time.

As far our golfers, after Billu Sethi who went to the European circuit in the late fifties, Jeev Milkha Singh is the only Indian who has made it to the European tour. Among the other professionals are Amandeep Johal, Amritinder Singh and Harmeet Kahlon. Harmeet has recently won the title of the Mahindra Rookie Golfer of the year. Our budding professionals are the school-going amateur golfers Gurbaaz Mann, Amar Bindra, Vikramjit Singh and Sandy Lehal. Gurbaaz who won the Northern India and Eastern India Junior/Sub-junior Tournament held in October and December, 1999, respectively, figures as the joint first in the junior golfers’ merit list of 1999-2000 of the Indian Golf Union.

Gone are the days when the ladies were left behind. Like in other fields, they are fast coming to the forefront in golf. Parnita Grewal and Irina Brar have won many laurels in golf. Following in their footsteps is Guneet Reikhy, who has started tasting success in the junior section.