Leander Paes has severely criticised the team selection with regards to the tennis contingent at the Rio Olympics. He had made similar criticism during the 2012 London Olympics and was at it again.
After his recent loss at the Davis Cup, Leander Paes went on record and once again criticised the decision of selecting Rohan Bopanna to partner with Sania Mirza instead of him.
However, this time, both Sania and Rohan had had enough, and responded to Paes’ criticism on Twitter.
The ONLY way to win with a toxic person, is not to play!!! #karmaiswatching #zenmode ??
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) September 18, 2016
At it again!! …the usual ploy to stay in the news by slanging fellow players in media. #Patriotism
— Rohan Bopanna (@rohanbopanna) September 18, 2016
Right after his 5-0 loss at the Davis Cup, Leander Paes had this to say about “his competitors”.
“In this part of my career, most of my competitors are highly jealous. They might not understand what it takes to win 18 Grand Slams and play seven Olympics. Some competitors, you give them 10 life times, they will still not be able to achieve that. Instead of working hard, they want to knock me down.”
The tennis star felt that whatever negative publicity that had occurred around his name in recent press was the “result of a few underachievers’ sinister design.”
Well, we wouldn’t want to take sides in this, however, we do believe that in the spirit of sportsmanship, such controversies must not spoil the game for the fans.
News Source: Times of India, Indian Express