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India, South Korea level

India and South Korea shared honours on the opening day of the Davis Cup Asia- Oceania Group-1 second round tie as their top players Leander Paes and Hyung Taik Lee won their singles matches against Yong Il Yoon and Syed Fazaluddin respectively in Delhi today.

All the good work done by Paes, who humbled Yoon 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in the first singles, was undone by Fazaluddin, who gave a pathetic display and went down to Lee 4-6, 5-7, 2-6 in the second singles in 142 minutes.

Paes made short work of Yoon in just 90 minutes. He did not drop serve while outplaying the Korean, who had beaten him in the Hiroshima Asian Games and last year's Davis Cup tie.

Paes took some time to settle down. He was in no hurry and wanted to read his rival's game. The first set went with service till the ninth game. The Indian broke the Korean in the tenth game to take the set (6-4) in 37 minutes.

The second set was totally one-sided, with Paes in full flow. He unleashed a flurry of shots and served superbly. Such was his dominance that Yoon just became a mute spectator.

Nothing went well for the Korean. He had difficulty in serving; time and again he was left stranded as Paes just passed him.

Yoon's volleying was poor and Paes had no problem in applying the kill . The Indian did not indulge in long rallies nor allowed his rival that privilege. It was a totally professional display and Yoon had no answer.

In the second set, Paes broke Yoon in the second and eighth games to win 6-2 in just 27 minutes.

The Korean virtually threw in the towel and did not put up much resistance in the third set in which he was broken in the eighth game. The Indian took 33 minutes to take this set and the match.

"It is good to have won in straight sets.Out there it is very hot and I had to conserve my energy for next two days," Paes said after the match.

Paes and non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan admitted that the defeat of Fazaluddin made the doubles very crucial.

"It has become a must-win situation," he said.

Paes said he was happy the way he played.

"I raised the level of the game. My service was good and I covered the court well. Yoon looked tentative.''

It turned out to be poor day for No. 2 players of both the countries. If Yoon found it hard against Paes, Fazaluddin looked helpless against Hyung Taik Lee.

In the first set the Korean No. 1 broke Fazal in the second and seventh games to lead 5-2, and though Fazal managed to break Lee in the next, that was all he could do as the Korean took the set 6-4 in 33 minutes.

Fazaluddin served very poorly. He admitted later: "I did not get my rhythm and served badly."

Taik covered the court well. He was very agile and his returns carried much power and punch which created problem for Fazal.

Taik broke Fazaluddin's first serve in the second game, but the Indian drew parity when he broke the Korean in the fourth game.

Fazal however failed to hold on his next serve. But he again managed to break Taik in the tenth game. The Koreans came back with vengence and took the 11th game and held serve to win the set 7-5 in 42 minutes and go 2-0 up.

The third set was a washout for Fazal as the korean broke him twice in the third and and fifth games to wrap the set 6-2.

UNI