Paes Bhupathi on ‘Break-point’

The memorable moments that Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi brought on Wednesday by winning gold at the Asian Games were soured by the duo’s verbal attacks on each other.

Just moments after they had teamed up to defend their men's doubles title at the Qatari capital the Multiple grand slam winners publicly spat out all the bitterness that had ever bothered their relationship.

"There was an opportunity to question me and it was pretty much done in a very haphazard manner by the captain and the coach," said Bhupathi. "I have lived with his comments for 12 years, it hurts," he said.

The 32-year-old revealed that Paes had flatly refused to play with him and he had been coaxed into coming to Doha. He ruled out any chances of the pair getting back together again, clearly stating it won’t happen even for the 2008 Olympics.

"We should forget about the Olympic gold because it's clearly not happening with both of us. I'm not going to go begging for anybody." said a frustrated Bhupahti.

The former world No.1 doubles player said, "Leander has already said he won't play with me again. Let me tell you that the feeling is mutual."

Paes had earlier in the Games publicly questioned Bhupathi's fitness and commitment but later tried to recover by saying, "I would love to play with him for India again. I would love to have Mahesh on my team anytime; he is a great asset."

Paes maintained that he did not want to play regularly with Bhupathi in future because he already has a partner for the ATP circuit.

After a series of disputes the two had united in Doha to defend their Asian Games title. Bhupathi allegedly held his tongue throughout the tournament to concentrate on wining gold for India.

"It was very unfortunate that they washed dirty linen in public," former Davis Cup player Jaideep Mukherjea said. "Winning the gold was a commendable achievement considering their earlier spat. It is very difficult to partner someone you are not comfortable with."

Bhupathi finished by saying, "Our story has been the biggest tragedy of Indian sport, but I am glad that despite everything we finished by winning the gold."