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India have bright prospects in CWG: Bhupathi

Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday said India have bright prospects in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games and players have begun preparing for the upcoming sporting extravaganza to be held in New Delhi.

Kolkata: Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday said India have bright prospects in the forthcoming
Commonwealth Games and players have begun preparing for the upcoming sporting extravaganza to be held in New Delhi. "It`s really exciting that India is hosting the Commonwealth Games. We will try to get as many medals as possible. There are still a few days left for this, preparation for the big event is going on in full swing," Bhupathi said here this evening during the inauguration of his roof-top tennis academy, made at a height of 117 feet atop a shopping mall. Bhupathi further said India have bright future in Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri. "We have the potential to move forward. India have made the world group stage of Davis Cup after a long time. Somdev and Yuki are talented youngsters and they have got potential. Somdev is close to break into 100. They are moving in the right direction," the ace doubles player said. On Sania Mirza`s return to courts post-marriage, Bhupathi said, "It will be great to have her back on court. I heard she had started practising, it`s good news for the tennis-buffs." Talking about his roof-top multi-utility complex which has three tennis courts besides gymnasium and yoga centre spread across 28,000 square feet, Bhupathi said they will target the kids and spot talents from here for his high-performance centre. "The main aim is to bring in a lot of kids here and spot the talent among them. We will then see if they can make the grade to the high performance centre," he said. "There will be no particular criteria as such. We will make the facility available for adults who can come here late nights after work hours," he added. Bhupathi also said Kolkata was very close to his heart. "The city is very close to my heart, having made my Davis Cup debut here. The city has a tradition of great players. Chennai and Kolkata are the two centres who are constantly churning out players.” "When I first started my high performance coaching centre, I was itching to start something here. Hopefully, it will start functioning in a few days and there will be players from here who will become national champions and kids representing India," he said. Asked whether he would take the help of his former doubles partner Leander Paes with whom he is not in good terms, Bhupathi said, "Sure why not? When you reach a stage, each of us has the responsibility to give something back. We will see when an opportunity arises." Bhupathi said he would play a tournament in Madrid ahead of the French Open. He also spoke about Sachin Tendulkar joining the micro-blogging website, twitter. "Sachin is Sachin. He is really special. I was reading a news article that mentioned about the huge response he is getting in Twitter. Maybe, he will hit 10 million followers by the time I am back to Mumbai." PTI