Sania Mirza who got the wild card entry to London Olympic 2012 on Tuesday said she would be happy to pair with Leander Paes in mixed doubles. But at the same time she was unhappy that AITA was using her as a bait to lure Leander Paes to play in Olympics.
Mirza said, "It's not a nice situation. Obviously it wasn't the ideal situation you want before an Olympics. I'm just happy that it's kind of settled. Most people are getting what they want. It was a tricky situation but they handled it somehow. It's not the kind of publicity you want for any sport".
"It got really mucky and dirty with everyone saying all kinds of things. Having said that, I think people should realize that tennis players have emotions too and there's certain kinds of emotions that cannot be hidden all the time. People do forget that being celebrities, we are also normal human beings with likes and dislikes towards people," she added.
Earlier Leander Paes who was paired with 209th-ranked Vishnu Vardhan showed indication of boycotting London Olympics 2012.
Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi both refused to play with him and AITA in a compromise deal offered Paes to play with Sania in Mixed Doubles.
Sania Mirza reacted strongly on this saying she is being treated like a pawn by AITA to appease Paes.
Sania said, "As an Indian woman in the 21st century, what I find disillusioning is the humiliating manner in which I was put up as a bait to try and pacify one of the disgruntled stalwarts of Indian tennis. While I feel honored and privileged to have been chosen to partner Leander Paes, the manner and timing of the announcement wreaks of male chauvinism where a two time Grand Slam champion, who has been India's number 1 women's tennis player for almost a decade in singles and doubles, is offered as 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."
"I would like to point out that my commitment is to my country. For the sake of India I'm committed to play with Paes or Bhupathi or Rohan Bopanna or Somdev Devvarman or Vishnu Vardhan," she added.
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