Bhupathi to pair with Santoro in Dubai Open

Calcutta: Both are jet-setters alright, but Leander Paes and Ravi Shastri belong to different worlds. Showbiff, a company set up to promote and manage events in sport and entertainment, promises to bring them closer.

Shastri was already a part of it, Paes came on board recently. The two of them were in town for the eastern India launch of the company at a city hotel on Friday evening.

“I had a three-week break after the Davis Cup tie in New Zealand… I’m now ready for battle on the Tour,” Paes announced, adding that he would be playing with Jonas Bjorkman at the Dubai Open. “David (Rikl) will be rejoining him from Indian Wells.”

At almost the same time that Paes landed in the city, Mahesh Bhupathi was flying out. The other half of the once-operative Indian Express spent two days in Calcutta meeting top corporates in connection with his own management company Globosport.

Like Paes, Bhupathi will be with a non-regular partner in Dubai — Fabrice Santoro. “Max (Mirnyi) will be playing only singles in Dubai, so I had to look for a different partner,” Bhupathi said before leaving for Bangalore.