Double benefits

In 1999,when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi reached the finals of all four Grand Slams,and ended up winning the Wimbledon and French Open,Indian tennis was supposed to have been guaranteed success,players and followers for a generation. Subsequent big-tournament disappointments notwithstanding,many Indian kids looked up to them. Now,Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza — who made her professional debut in 2003,past the twilight of the Paes-Bhupathi partnership — have just won the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open beating the Israeli-French duo of Andy Ram and Natalie Dechy convincingly. In the process,the veteran Bhupathi won his 11th Grand Slam title and Mirza,her first.

For a country perpetually forsaken by Nike,the goddess of victory,in most sporting arenas,save one,there has been a rainbow in the sky for a while. Indian hockey hit the bottom of the abyss in 2008,failing to qualify for the Olympics,a fall that the likes of Abhinav Bhindra somewhat made up for. A few weeks ago,Somdev Devvarman came along to again prove that Indian sports may now reasonably look beyond cricket — a conclusion reaffirmed by the Saina Nehwals. With or without the XVI Asiad and 2010 Commonwealth Games due next year,India should embark on a long-term project to provide training and resources to individuals who show promise.

Although the Bhupathi-Mirza duo dominated the final,except for a slight scare in the first set,they had made a bad beginning in the semi-final,trailing 1-3 in the opening set before getting their act together. Persistence and perseverance don’t always win the day,but they do leave their adherents stronger. Nothing will dramatically change in Indian sports across the spectrum,but the signs are promising. Even if we can’t win Nike’s favour right now,there’s still the patronage of Hermes and Heracles.