In a professional career spanning nearly three decades, Indian tennis great Leander Paes won 18 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic medal. Speaking at the launch event of the new season of the NDTV-AM Green IGPL Golf Pro-Am, Paes reflected on the longevity of his career and the factors behind his trophy-laden journey during a chat with NDTV Executive Editor (Sports) Gaurav Gala. Leander said his driving ambition was always to win an Olympic medal for India and prove that Indians could excel on the world stage in any sport.

“I think it’s passion and I think it’s fun. I grew up with parents who built their own legacy, so my focus in life was always to prove that Indians can be world champions at anything. For me, winning an Olympic medal for India meant more than anything else. As a child, I grew up polishing my father’s Olympic medal and dreaming of creating something similar for my country,” said Leander.

“When you win an Olympic medal for the first time, people call it a fluke. When you do it again, they ask, ‘Can you do it once more?’ That’s what motivated me throughout my career.”

Paes, however, admitted that he was fortunate to share the global stage with some of the biggest names in world tennis.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to play alongside some of the greatest partners in the world, from Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis to my Indian partner Mahesh Bhupathi. No matter who I played with, the goal remained the same: to prove that Indians can be world champions,” he added.

“Proving that Indians can compete with and beat the best in the world has always been my biggest motivation.”

Led by Leander Paes’ vision of grassroots development, wellness and elite performance, his venture, Flying Man Ventures, has come on board as the franchise owner of the Kolkata leg of the IGPL. Speaking about the initiative, Leander credited former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh, one of the league’s founding members, for helping expand the IGPL’s footprint beyond India and giving it a truly global identity.

“First of all, I want to thank the AM-Green IGPL and Yuvi Paaji for helping build this incredible platform. For me, sport is one of the greatest vehicles to educate and empower young people. India has the largest youth population in the world, and empowering more than 250 million children has always been a passion of mine. IGPL gives golfing legends and young players an opportunity to compete while also taking the sport closer to the community.”

“IGPL is a fantastic league because it has a truly global vision. While many of the tournaments are held in India, we are also expanding internationally. We start in Ras Al Khaimah tomorrow, and I think the format has tremendous potential to grow the game and inspire the next generation of golfers.”

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India Ends CWG Boxing Campaign With Record-Breaking Seven Gold Medals

A 51-year-old star has slammed WWE for saddling Roman Reigns with bad creative. The Head of the Table was in action this week on RAW and was successful in the defense of his World Heavyweight Championship against Penta.

Reigns has really come into his own with his Tribal Chief persona and established himself as one of the biggest stars of the promotion, who is adored by the fans. This is a far cry from the days when the company first pushed him to the top over a decade ago.

Despite being presented as a babyface, he was heavily booed, and his character often came across as trying too hard to be the good guy. Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the tag team legend assessed whether Reigns was ready for the top spot back in 2015-2016.

Hardy said he doubts whether he was equipped to handle the role but said WWE had already made up its mind about pushing him. He said while they eventually were successful, his early run as the Big Dog was hampered by the creative he was given.

“I do think some of the creative he had was real bad. Like you said, the dog food thing, especially for a character that is meant to be very serious and be like a main eventer, the top guy, the draw, the sell. He had his moments where it was good, but I do think there were a lot of times he was saddled with some bad creative. Maybe even bad lines,” he said.

Matt Hardy recalled the infamous “suffering succotash” promo by Roman Reigns and said that his character didn’t need to be comic relief but a serious star.

“That isn’t what you need out of that guy. His job isn’t humor relief. His job is to go out there and be this good-looking, hot guy that all the chicks love, and then all the dudes like, ‘This guy’s badass because he can kick anybody’s a**. That’s what you need to believe. You don’t need him going out there and doing stand-up comedy,” he added.

JBL says Roman Reigns does not need to wrestle on TV every week

Roman Reigns’ World Championship match against Penta on RAW was his first match on WWE TV in over a year. The match lived up to its hype and delivered an instant classic.

Hall of Famer JBL talked about the contest on Something to Wrestle With. He said that the OTC1 has become a rare attraction, and that’s why whenever he wrestles on TV, it is a big deal.

JBL mentioned that this was part of the reason why his match with Penta was special. He argued that, given Roman Reigns’ status as a special attraction, he doesn’t need to wrestle every week on TV.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.