Bhupathi wants tango with Paes in Beijing for the sake of country

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi today virtually offered an olive branch to his estranged partner Leander Paes when he said their potent partnership was the only way India could bring home a tennis medal from the Beijing Olympics next year.

''I think ideally we (himself and Leander Paes) should team up. It's a logical choice. It will give us (India) the best chance to win a medal,'' Bhupathi said.

To a question from mediapersons whether he would partner Paes at the 2008 Olympics, Bhupathi said with a slight smile on his face, ''I was expecting this to be asked a hundred times.

''Like we did in the Asian Games where we won the gold medal, we should ideally get together for the Olympics too if we want to win a medal in Beijing.

''Considering our current doubles rankings, I guess that is what we should do.'' He, however, said he had not appraoched Paes till now as the Beijing Olympics was 15 months away. ''Olympics is far off now.

There is no need to start talking right away.'' ''We should just shut our mouths and play now,'' he added.

On whether he would partner Sania Mirza in mixed doubles at next week's French Open, the former doubles world number one said, ''Nothing is decided as of now. We will decide in the next few days,'' adding he would be leaving for Paris on Friday.

He also said he is practising regularly to put up a good show in the prerstigious French Open.

''Sania has been out of the action for quite some time. You should not expect her to come back and win tournamnets immediately.

''She is performing well and has just won the doubles title in Morocco Open. We should not put pressure on her. It's clay court saeason now, she will do better in the grass court,''Bhupathi, who was here as a brand ambassador to unveil Apollo Tyre's plans of pumping in 100 crores over the next 10 years to produce India's first Grand slam winner, said.

On being nominated by AITA for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, he said, ''I am very excited about it. Let's see how it goes off.'' UNI