 Zeenews Sports Bureau
New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association’s acting president VK Malhotra has backed Sania Mirza after she launched an all-out attack on Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and AITA for treating her as ‘bait’ in the tennis row.
Speaking to a TV news channel, Malhotra said, “Sania Mirza’s reaction to the tennis row is valid. Whatever has happened has happened. Now everybody should concentrate on winning the medal.”
Mirza in a statement on Tuesday slammed AITA for being "offered in compensation to partner one of the feuding champions purely in order to lure him into accepting to play with a men`s player he does not wish to play with!"
The Hyderabadi said it was demeaning for her and Vishnu that Paes had asked for a written assurance to consider paring up with the lower-ranked player in men`s doubles event.
"To Leander Paes I would like to point out that Vishnu Vardhan is an extremely talented player, who I had the privilege of partnering. We went on to win a silver medal for India at the 2010 Asian Games, when all the three male stalwarts of Indian tennis had opted to stay away from Guangzhou," Sania said.
With PTI inputs
First Published: Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 12:31
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