New Delhi:
With just 11 days left, the Commonwealth Games might be in the news for all the wrong reasons but veteran Davis Cupper Leander Paes urged fellow athletes, participating in the event, not to get "distracted by the negative developments."
Paes, who will be eyeing two gold medals in the October 3-14 Delhi Games, refrained from making any comments about the entire CWG mess stating that he was focussed on putting up an impressive show in the show-piece event.
"I am not in a position to comment on the controversies related to the Games. My job is to represent the country and I am looking forward to it," Paes said on the sidelines of a programme launch by the Olympic Gold Quest.
"My message to participants will be not to get distracted. As far my preparation is concerned, it is going on really well. I had a wonderful 2010 and I am looking to get two medals along with Mahesh (Bhupati) in the doubles and Saina (Mirza) in the mixed doubles.
"I am leaving for Bangkok tonight to participate in the Thailand Open along with Mahesh which will be our last preparatory tournament before the Games," added Paes, who won a bronze in the singles event of 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
He also stated that he is aiming to add another medal in his Olympic kitty by finishing on the podium during the 2012 edition in London.
"I am now preparaing for my sixth Olympics and I am looking forward looking forward to a doubles medal to hang alongside my singles one," Paes said.
Eight-time world billiards champion Geet Sethi agreed with Paes and said Indian sportspersons are professional enough to handle such sort of a situation.
"My advice to the athletes will be not to get distracted, be focussed because you have a lot of potential to do the country proud," said Sethi, who is also a founder member of OGQ.
Sprint queen P T Usha, whose protege Tintu Luka is a medal prospect for India in the CWG in the 800m athletics event, said being a sportsperson it is disappointing to see such negative publicity ahead of the mega event.
"It really feels very bad when you hear negative things about the Games on a daily basis. Now we need to conduct the games in a proper way because the country's prestige is at stake," he said.
She, however, said that as a mentor she keeps her wards, especially Luka, away from all the negative news surrounding the Games.
Usha also said that inspite of high expectations, she was remains gounded about Luka's medal chances in the Delhi Games.
"The players need motivation at this stage, so I try to keep Luka away from all the negative news.
"She is young and doing very well. She is not in a hurry to get a gold but I am expecting a better performance in the Commonwealth Games than the World Cup, where she finished fifth. But our ultimate target is gold in the Asian Games," she said.
With days to go for the start of the event, the Delhi Games had been marred by corruption allegations, construction delays and star pull outs citing unhygenic conditions and security reasons.
The organisers problems compounded when Canada, Wales, Scotland and New Zealand delayed their departure for the mega-event because of shoddy preparations, which includes a filthy and unhygenic Athletes Village.