Indian star tennis duo all set for Sydney Games

Indian star tennis duo all set for Sydney Games

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 13: One half of India's former World No 1 tennis partnership and the main medal hopefuls at the Sydney Olympics, Mahesh Bhupathi, confirmed to the Indian Express last night that his shoulder was now all right and he and Leander Paes were looking forward to the Games. ``The shoulder is feeling pretty good and has not troubled me during practice,'' said Mahesh.

Bonus for Indian girls
Meanwhile, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) secretary Anil Khanna said on Wednesday that AITA had received a call from the ITF last evening, saying that as there had been a few withdrawals from the women's doubles event at Sydney, would the AITA be able to send Manisha Malhotra and Nirupama Vaidyanathan for it. ``The ITF asked us to confirm immediately,'' said Khanna, adding that the AITA did so and then set about the process of informing the girls, both of whom are abroad at the moment.

Expecting great things from the girls would be rather unfair, given some of the other teams in the competition (including the American ``Dream Team'' of Lindsay Davenport, Venus and Serena Williams and Monica Seles), but the fact alone that they will be getting this kind of exposure, should do their confidence a world of good.