Paes overjoyed at being flag-bearer

Sydney: Tennis star Leander Paes has said that carrying the Indian tri-colour at the opening of the Olympic Games is a great honour and ''I am overjoyed''.

Leander Paes, who arrived here last night, said for any player to carry his country's flag in the Olympics is a dream, which has come true in ''my case''.

After going through some anxious moments, there was sense of relief in the Indian contingent as news came that Paes has arrived to be the march-past leader and spearhead country's hopes of a medal in tennis.

Paes, the only second Indian to have won individual medal in the Olympics after independence, however did not say anything about the competition.

His doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi and last minute wild card women's doubles pair Manisha and Nirupama Vaidyanathan are arriving here on Friday.

Leander's father Vaes Paes, himself a former hockey Olympian, who is here with the tennis team as doctor, was confident that Paes and Bhupathi will give a good performance but cautioned against raising too much expectations.

He said Leander's injury has effected his ranking in the singles as he could not take part in many a tournaments. The unfortunate split when Leander and Bhupathi were virtually ruling the world in the doubles has also cast a shadow on their performance.

''Both are mature and professional players, and are aware of the responsibilities and also know that people back home have a lot of expectations from them,'' Dr Paes said.

Meanwhile India's non-too impressive performance against Canada in a friendly hockey match came as a disappointment for many hockey fans here, but coach Baskaran exuded confidence.

''Don't read too much into the 2-1 result. We did not go all out and also we went through lot of experimentation. We kept on shuffling the players and trying to see which player can be comfortable in other position if there was need to change his slot.''

Mukesh and Baljeet Saini scored the goals for India as the winners could not convert penalty corners. Baskaran said all players were tested and ''I am satisfied with the way the boys played''.

On the eve of the opening of the Games Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent Ashok Mattoo said all the players are fully fit and are looking ahead to the competitions. ''They are going to give their best,'' he assured.

UNI