Paes not to look too far ahead

 Leander Paes refused to look too far ahead as another of his Olympic campaigns came to an end on Saturday with defeat in men’s doubles first round.

Paes, partnering Rohan Bopanna, lost to Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski in a tough two-setter. Both Paes and Bopanna admitted they had failed to cash in on their chances.

“It would have been nice to come through, would have loved to go deeper into draw from there we could have fought for a medal,” Paes said.

“I am thankful to Rohan for working very hard. We knew we were playing against tough opponents. We left everything behind and focused hard. The scoreline shows it,” he pointed out.

At 43, it is hard to see Paes competing in another Oly­mpics, four years from now in Tokyo. Seven is the Indian record, one Paes said he was proud to have in his name.

“Playing seven Olympic Games is never easy. It is hard work, day in and day out. Someone just asked me whether I will continue and play in another Olympics, I just smiled. Four years is a very long time,” said Paes, whose Olympic journey started at 1992 in Barcelona.

Paes, who will fly back home on Saturday itself, offered his full support to the remaining Indian challengers in the draw. “I will go back and evaluate my performance but my wholehearted support is there to Sania and Prarthana in women’s doubles and Rohan and Sania in mixed,” said the Kolkatan.

Bopanna paid tributes to his Polish rivals. “We know that both are very good players on the tour, very experienced. Today morning, they played really well. We had our chances but the conditions were very tough. We came close on many occasions but could not take the chances,” admitted the Bengalurean.