More Turbulence in Indian Racquet Sports, Indo-Pak Express Bopanna-Qureshi Part Ways

Top doubles pair Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, popularly known as the Indo-Pak Express, have broken up as both of them played with different partners in Beijing and Tokyo this week.

India's Bopanna and Pakistan's Qureshi finished this year at No.13 in the rankings as a pair, having played their last tournament together two weeks ago at Shenzhen, China.

World no. 35 Bopanna will partner Canada's veteran doubles player Daniel Nestor next season while Qureshi, who is ranked 28 in the individual doubles rankings, is still undecided on a partner.

Interestingly, the world of Indian racquet sports has seen a lot of turbulence in recent times with top badminton player Saina Nehwal also having ended her partnership with long-time coach Pullela Gopichand. Saina is unlikely to return to Gopichand after continuing her training with Vimal Kumar.

As far as Bopanna and Qureshi are concerned, the pair knew right after their shock loss to Santiago Giraldo and Kiwi Michael Venus in Shenzhen two weeks ago, that their partnership wasn't working anymore.

"We sat down with Scot Davidoff (coach), we had a long chat. We thought it was better if we parted ways. It wasn't working. We started the year well, but after that, we didn't have the results we are capable of," Bopanna was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Bopanna is currently playing with Romania's Florin Mergea in the Shanghai Masters, where he has already made the quarterfinals. They will take on the Croatian-Brazilian pair of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo on Friday.

While Bopanna has chosen Nestor as his partner for the 2015 season, he is yet unsure about which will be the first tournament he will take part in. The pair are thinking on the lines of starting in Australia rather than Chennai, the traditional season-opening tournament for Indians.