Tennis: Mahesh Bhupathi bids farewell to Olympics

Mahesh Bhupathi will not play in the Olympics again. He made this statement after his miserable performance, along with his handpicked partner Rohan Bopanna, in the 2^nd round of the London Games. It was the second time in a month that this team lost poorly at Wimbledon. The first was at the All England Championships.

While making the exit statement, Bhupathi was still assuming the selector’s role. He said he would be on the stands rooting for Bopanna, his partner, at the next Olympiad. That means Bopanna is already in the Indian tennis team for the 2016 Olympics. I suppose Bhupathi will announce the second player in due course.

Normally, the team selection should be the responsibility of the All India Tennis Federation (AITF). But Bhupathi and a couple of politicians made this organization ineffectual and really a laughing stock. As a result, instead of the potential medal winning combination of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, which AITF originally chose, India ended up sending what could be possibly its third-string team for the Olympic laurels. I am making this statement after watching Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan play so brilliantly against the 2^nd seeded French pair of Tsonga and Llorda yesterday.

The tampering with team selection was not in the nation’s interest. It was purely personal. What problem exists between Bhupathi and Paes is not known. But that should have been sidelined in the best interest of the country. Paes was willing to play with Bhupathi or anyone else. But the latter decided to play only with Bopanna. And he had his way, which led to an inglorious exit.

There were reports about Bhupathi protesting against Leander being chosen to partner Sania Mirza at the Dhoha Asian Games in 2006. But that team won the Gold Medal. Though they have not played together for a long time, their performance yesterday against Zimonjic and Ivanovic of Serbia was almost mixed doubles tennis at its best.

We don’t know who is behind the problem, but it is said there have been moves against Paes once he reached an enviable stature in world tennis that he still maintains and also when he became the Captain of the Indian Davis Cup team. Even a non-national who was imported to play for India in Davis Cup (he was packed off after a while) seemed to have been against Paes.

Maybe there is something wrong with this Indian hero with regard to interpersonal relations. But if that were so, it would have been unlikely for him to have gained the eminence he enjoys in world tennis. It seems that Paes has partnered 67 players in men’s doubles. This can mean two things. One is that he cannot get on with his partners. The other is that he can adjust his game to that of different partners and keep on winning laurels.

Let me conclude with quoting Vishnu Vardhan’s statement after  his remarkable performance yesterday against the French (as reported by The Hindu). “Leander is a huge inspiration for me… I am happy and fortunate that I play in the era of Leander.”

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Related post:

Tennis: Leander Paes, the Indian Hero

Some Clubs of India

Last week I received a copy of the Platinum Jubilee Souvenir of the prestigious Lotus Club, Cochin. The Committee that brought it out deserves high compliments for the excellent production, which is not only about Lotus but also a good reference book on the history of Cochin.

Though a member of this club for decades, I didn’t know that W. Somerset Maugham was one among the several illustrious visitors to the club including the Maharajas of Cochin and Mysore, and Lord Linlithgow when he was the Viceroy of India.

Linlithgow actually played tennis at Lotus during a visit to Cochin during the early 1940s. Tennis always had a prominent place in the activities of this family club, which used to conduct an All India ranking tournament. By 1990s the interest in tennis waned, but it has been revived recently with the laying of a synthetic court. Last week I was happy to see a group of young children being coached by an expert.

Bridge is another favorite at Lotus. Prof. Robins Jacob, Honorary Secretary of the Kerala Bridge Association writes, “Lotus Club is credited with the unique distinction of hosting the oldest uninterruptedly conducted Duplicate Tournament in India, perhaps in the whole world.”

The souvenir contains an interesting article titled ‘The Club Culture in India’ by David T. Mookken who has the rare distinction of having been President of Cochin Club and Lotus Club. David traces the origin of clubs in India and the transition of the club culture from British times to post-Independence days.

The first club outside Britain was perhaps Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (1792). A year later Calcutta Racket Club was established. Cochin Club was formed in 1821. Some of the other old clubs in South India are Madras Club (1832), Bangalore Club (1868), Coimbatore Club (1873), Secunderabad Club (1878), Coonoor Club (1885), and Kodaikanal Club (1887).

These were known as ‘English Clubs’. No Indian was allowed entry to them. This exclusiveness led to the formation of the Lotus Club by Lady Gertrude Bristow. Her husband, Sir Robert was a representative of the British Government who was entrusted with the task of developing a modern port at Cochin, a job which he completed admirably. But the Bristows were denied admission to Cochin Club because Lady Gertrude was not English born!

The lady was not disheartened, though. With the cooperation of some prominent families of Cochin, she had a suitable piece of land assigned by the Maharaja of Cochin and started the Lotus Club! The Maharaja himself attended the first Club Night of Lotus on September 9, 1932 as Chief Guest.

Lady Gertrude Bristow was the Founder President of the Club, and remained in that position from 1931 to 1941.

Ends.

Some memories of WW II, Cochin and the 1940s.

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