Leander Paes-Rohan Bopanna out of Rio Olympics after 1st round loss

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 6: After all the controversies surrounding Leander Paes in the bulid-up to Rio Olympics 2016, came the shocking exit in the first round of men's doubles event today (August 6).

Photo gallery

Indian pair of Paes and Rohan Bopanna were ousted in the very first round on Saturday as they lost to the Polish duo of Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski in straight sets 4-6, 6-7 (6-8) in 1 hour and 24 minutes. (Paes hits out at media)

Both Paes and Bopanna did not have the best of the preparations for Rio Games. Paes arrived late in Brazil and Bopanna had to train for the event with foreign players.

Before the team was selected, Bopanna had opted for a younger partner in Saketh Myneni. However, All India Tennis Association (AITA) picked 43-year-old Paes to partner Bopanna.

The final controversy around Paes was in Rio de Janeiro when he was not allotted a room in the Athletes Village and there were reports that he had refused to share a room with his playing partner. (AITA backs Paes)

With all those off the court incidents, Paes and Bopanna wanted to bring some good news to Indian tennis fans today but that did not happen.

With this loss, Paes' Olympic journey ended with a record 7 consecutive appearances. He claimed a bronze in singles in 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Bopanna will however have another chance to win a medal as he partners Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles event.

OneIndia News