By Rohit Brijnath
Senior Correspondent
rohitb@sph.com.sg

 

IN MELBOURNE

EVERYWHERE they go this year they will be a story. It is not a new story but a nice story. It is a story of two men who are both 29, wear the same Lotto outfits, bang jubilant fists in togetherness, sit sweaty in collective defeat like they did yesterday. Their names are Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi. They are decent players, they are also Indian and Pakistani.

In tennis doubles, nationalities don't really matter. Of the 64 teams at the Australian Open, only 26 come from the same country, the rest are mixed and matched. A Swede and Australian, American and Slovak, French and Israeli. So why not these two?

But Bopanna and Qureshi are different. No one cares really if they fit well together, if they win, which is all a bit sad because that's their job, it's who they are. Tennis players. Trying to earn money and ranking points. An uncomplicated life.

But it is the symbolism of their union that attracts interest, that makes it complicated for them. Pakistan and India were once one nation, but are now riven with distrust for each other. So their pairing intrigues, for some it offends, for many it gives hope.

This line of interrogation is familiar to them, but they are nothing but polite and patient. Qureshi, years ago, was threatened with a ban by the Pakistani federation for playing with Israeli Amir Hadad, but refused to back down. He's heard these question for seven years, but says his answer stays the same: "Don't mix politics, culture, religion with sports".

On court they are thinking forehands, passing shots, volleys. That's it. "I never thought he's a Hindu or an Indian", says Qureshi. "When we started out we weren't thinking of politics", says Bopanna.

They are not out to make a statement, but by playing together they make a nice one. They stand before us as tennis-shoe-clad proof of what is possible. If people take it as a positive, says Qureshi, then that's just fine.

Both men have a lot in common. Qureshi speaks Urdu, Bopanna speaks Hindi, languages that are related. Tennis drew them together but also this familiarity of language, of food, of Bollywood films. Says Qureshi: "He's my best friend on the court and we also hang out together off it". Bopanna, the quieter one, nodded.

Tonight, defeated, they said they were headed for a Hindi movie. Two heroes out to see Three Idiots.

Rohit Brijnath is currently in Melbourne attending the Australian Open.