Nicknamed "The Indo-Pakistan Express", Rohan Bopanna and AISAM-Ul-Haq Qureshi hopes to finalize their breakthrough year for a showdown with the infamous Wagah border between their countries.
Bopanna, a Hindu from India, and Qureshi, a Muslim Pakistan also 30, reached his first grand final in doubles at the U.S. Open in September and climbed to eighth in the world rankings.
But their work off the field has attracted much attention as they try to soften the often fragile relationship between their two nations since partition in 1947.
The couple operated a number of awards for their humanitarian work over the past 12 months, and decided to start collecting the titles of the tournament in 2011.
But the showpiece clash between the famous border crossing point, which hosted the competition of the Indian and Pakistani border forces would be the best way to take care of their "Stop the War Start Tennis" campaign in the new year.
"We think about how to reach a wider audience and spreading the message of peace through our partnership and thought," said Qureshi.
The town of Wagah, near the Indian city of Amritsar and the Pakistani city of Lahore, is the only way to cross the border between the two countries, and the ceremony of the day - including a large number of swaggering, stamped and greet - regularly draws crowds of thousands.
The game could be a turning point that the first pair was born in 2003, but did not have a big impact this season.
Their growing collaboration in the field is coupled with a deep desire to strengthen ties between the two countries have a long and deep distrust of each other.
Besides receiving the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year at the recent ATP World Tour in London, which also received the Peace Prize and Sport for the year 2010 at a ceremony in Monaco.
The following quotation: "Their commitment to promoting peace between countries, and their belief that peace was possible, was shown a lot during the year."
Joel Bouzou, President of Peace and Sport Foundation, said the project Wagah match: "Sport is ready for peace that both governments to the task.?"
Their partnership may have attracted many headlines, but Qureshi has teamed up with his Indian counterpart makes sense.
"The first time I ever went to India when I was 16, I was one of the first [of Pakistan] and the juniors, was one of the best juniors in India and that's how I got to know him.
And their race for the U.S. Open final, where they were beaten by the American Bryan brothers, they also enjoyed success at Wimbledon that made them household names at home.
Comments
Post a Comment