The pair is considered among India’s realistic hopefuls for a medal at the event. Asked if the two events would be enough preparation for an event like the Olympics, Bhupathi was non-committal. “Something is better than nothing. At least we will be prepared to some extent, and we will try to do the best we can,” he said.

The Bhupathi-Paes feud goes back a long way but came to a head at the Doha Asian Games in 2006, though they still managed to win gold. Bhupathi had declared after that that he would never play under Paes again. Most recently, there was an angry exchange of words during India’s Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan earlier this year, when Bhupathi supported the demand by other players to remove Paes as playing captain.

Keeping focus

However, Bhupathi refused to get into any controversy this time around, insisting that the main target was doing well at Beijing. “This is not my or his decision. This is a joint decision (to play together) in India’s best interests at the Olympics. The main issue was Beijing and my concern was lack of practice together. That has been sorted out now (to an extent).”

But he refused to comment on the other issues that have long plagued the partnership, undoubtedly the most successful Indian pair in the sport on the international circuit ever. “We always had those issues,” he admitted. “But at the moment we are completely focussed on the Olympics,” he said.

... contd.