For the last couple of days, the Indian tennis team has been slugging it out on the practice courts at Rio under the watchful eye of non-playing captain Zeeshan Ali. Curiously, while Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Prarthana Thombare have been putting in the hard yards, Leander Paes is yet to arrive in the city.Paes will partner Bopanna in the mens doubles and the competition is scheduled to begin on Saturday, August 6, leaving the pairing with precious little time to practice and prepare. Ali, who also serves as the coach of the Davis Cup team, says he is in the dark about Paes whereabouts and has had no contact with him of late, leaving him with no choice but to simply wait and watch.?Paes is now expected to arrive in Rio later on Thursday.Yes definitely it is not the ideal preparation, Ali told ESPN. For the AITA and me being a selector too, with the Davis cup in Chandigarh two weeks back, the whole idea was to get both the players (Paes & Bopanna) to try and get as much practice as they can. So arriving on the 4th for a match that may be on the 6th is definitely not enough time.As captain obviously I would have wanted all the players to have been here to get used to the conditions and to get used to the courts. It is a tough situation right now with Rohan having to find people to practice with. Weve got players from the other countries who are all practicing together and unfortunately Rohan is having to find people to practice with and thats not exactly the way we would have liked to prepare for the tournament.ESPN understands that at a meeting between the players, AITA officials and coaches on the sidelines of the Davis cup tie in Chandigarh last month, Paes had agreed to arrive in Rio along with the rest of the players by August 1. However, he has chosen instead to play in the ongoing World Team Tennis in New York. Although his Twitter feed contains several recent references about competing in his seventh Olympics, by delaying his arrival into Rio, Paes has given himself very little opportunity to be well prepared to contend for a medal.Bopanna, who had in fact asked to be partnered with Saketh Myneni and not Paes for these Games, is staying upbeat despite his partner missing in action. Besides practicing with Mirza, with whom he will partner in the mixed doubles, Bopanna has found fellow pros from other countries to get some preparation time in. On Wednesday, he spent the first bit of his training schedule playing alongside Serbias Nenad Zimonjic before changing courts to link up with Mirza. With Paes unavailable, Ali joined forces with Thombare, who is at her first Olympics and will play the womens doubles with Mirza, to give Bopanna and Mirza a hit out as they look to find some rhythm as a mixed doubles combination.I think you should ask the captain, the captain is the one who tells me when hes here or not, Bopanna told ESPN when asked to comment on Paes absence. I have come here a few days earlier to get used to the conditions, practice as much as I can and work it from there. So theres nothing really to be affected or not affected by it. This is an individual sport, everyone chooses when to come and when not to come. It is not in my hands to do anything about it. I can only be prepared once my partner is here. Right now Sania is here, I am practicing as much as I can with her and take it from there.In the eyes of most observers, given Paes extended run of patchy form that has seen him slip below 50 in the world rankings, a mens doubles medal is highly unlikely. Now, with very little acclimatisation as a combination, the unseeded pairing will perhaps need a minor miracle to make a run at Rio. Paes and Bopanna have been drawn against Polish team of Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot in the mens doubles first round. Benny Snell Jr. Youth Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. Justin Layne Womens Jersey . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. http://www.steelerspronfl.com/Youth-JuJu-Smith-Schuster-Elite-Jersey/ . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. James Conner Womens Jersey . But what about the officials? 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A combined Brisbane Strikers-Ipswich bid is firming as a leading contender for A-League expansion but hopes of a new stadium depend on securing state and federal government support.Its understood Miron Bleiberg, the former A-League coach who is one of the key figures involved with the Strikers bid, met with Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale on Monday to discuss the possibility of forming an alliance.While the Strikers have not yet abandoned the idea of going it alone, a joint effort would significantly boost the bids financial and political standing and become an attractive option in the eyes of Football Federation Australia.Specific criteria for expansion will be released early next year, but FFA has made no secret of its desire for more teams in major cities, and the new vision for the Strikers is to pitch to Brisbanes sprawling western suburbs, including Ipswich, Toowoomba and Logan - all up, a catchment area of around 500,000 people and growing.Its envisaged the Strikers brand would be retained, but the name of the team could change to include a reference to Brisbanes so-called western corridor, where some of the investors associated with the bid have business interests.However, a new team would have to share Suncorp Stadium with Brisbane Roar until funding can be arranged for a boutique stadium to be built as desired, most likely in Springfield.With the state and federal governments having recently tipped in a total of $240 million for a new stadium in Townsville, its unclear whether that would be immediately forthcoming.ddddddddddddWere going to have to do some work out here, we need state and federal government support, Pisasale told AAP.But theyve got to start realising growth means we need sporting facilities.These stadiums are not just for the A-League teams, they get used by all the other juniors.Ipswich is growing at an enormous rate and whats missing is the infrastructure to go with it.The alliance is unlikely to include support from Logan City Council, who are already committed to building a $9 million home base for Brisbane Roar at Heritage Park.Pisasale said he was sure other investors and sponsors would throw their hat in the ring if they could be shown proof of return on investment by FFA.Pisasale has a long-standing relationship with FFA chief executive David Gallop, who in his previous capacity with the NRL toured Ipswich in 2009 when rugby league was considering expansion.Gallop said it was the ideal area for a new team and even used a similar analogy - that the NRL had to go where the fish are biting - to the one that has become the catch-phrase of the A-League expansion debate.Pisasale described the NRL as hopeless and said they had dropped the baton by not expanding into Ipswich. 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