The 2003 sting in cricket couldn’t be undone in 2023, but a 2004 Olympic sniffle and sob can be upturned into a smile in a racquet sport in 2024. Mahesh Bhupathi even retired without being conferred a Khel Ratna, a travesty to this day, which would’ve never panned out had they won that Olympic medal. Like Paes & Bhupathi, they don’t come from the northern belt from where most recent Indian male medallists have emerged. Twenty years after the Athens tears, you hope an Indian pair brings in the Olympic medal and the goofy grins from Paris in 2024. It’s a bit of an unfinished business, this men’s doubles medal in a racquet sport.

Source: Indian Express January 01, 2024 13:20 UTC