Paes, Hesh patch-up; Sania's injury make news

Thursday, 27 December 2007

A patch-up between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi for the sake of country's Olympic campaign was a bright note to end an year in which senior pros disappointed and youngsters shone in patches. As the Olympic year beckons, India's medal hopes got a fillip with Bhupathi announcing and Paes endorsing that they are game to shake hands and pair up for the quadrennial extravaganza. If 2006 ended on a sour note when Lee-Hesh parted ways, this announcement brought smiles on the faces of the game's lovers in the country. In the year gone by, Paes and Bhupathi were nowhere near winning a Grand Slam, while Sania Mirza missed much of action with injury even though she still managed a career-best singles rankings of 27. While Paes encountered an indifferent form, particularly in the later part of the year, Bhupathi - like Sania - was forced out of action due to niggling injuries intermittently. Paes and Bhupathi at least won two doubles titles each, including Master Series, but Sania failed to add to her lone WTA tour singles title. While much cannot be complained about Paes and Bhupathi, who, having done a lot for the country, are past their prime, Sania still carries a big burden of hopes of a nation of 1 billion. Her best chance in singles was when she reached finals of Stanford, which was also her first Tier II level final, but fell at the final hurdle. However, her good run in women's doubles continued as she added four more titles to her kitty. Unexpectedly, the players who were either written off or never carried much hopes provided something to cheer about. Rohan Bopanna had a memorable year with his maiden singles challenger win at Dublin and five doubles titles, including three with Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq-Qureshi. He also played four finals to take his doubles ranking to 66 from 116. Tara Iyer won four $10,000 ITF crowns, including three on the trot and Karan Rastogi ended India's 25-year long drought for a clay court title abroad by winning in Morocco. Tara, however, was exposed when pitted against higher ranked players. She lost in the first round in the WTA Sunfeast Open to Flavia Pennetta and her campaign at three consecutive $25000 ITF tournaments was cut short in the very first round.

 

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