Top seeds Leander Paes [Images] and Paul Hanley [Images] rallied from a set down to defeat second seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel 5-6(5), 6-1, 6-2 and win the US $550,000 Thailand Open doubles title in Bangkok on Sunday.

The victory gave Paes his third title of the season, the Indian having previously won two titles in 2005 with Nenad Zimonjic at Monte Carlo (Masters) and Barcelona.

For Hanley, it was his fourth title of the year with fourth different partners.

Erlich and Ram, who came into the tournament in ninth place in the ATP Doubles Race, boosted their chances of qualifying for Tennis Masters Cup doubles for the first time.

The Israeli duo was chasing their third title of the year, having won in Rotterdam and Nottingham. Erlich and Ram won the Bangkok title in 2003.

Paes and Hanley were pairing for the first time.

The Indian said he merely carried over the good form of the Davis Cup tie last week when he combined with Mahesh Bhupathi [Images] to beat Jonas Bjorkman and Simon Aspelin of Sweden.

"It's been a few months since I've won a title and it shows once again when I play Davis Cup I usually carry into the next event which I've done here and won the title," Paes said.

"Today was a tough first set but we concentrated on playing better and at the end it was convincing."

Hanley said: "It was a great experience to play with Leander as his experience is fantastic and he's so into it.

"It was also enjoyable playing on the backhand side for a change. This is my 11th title and fourth for the year. I'll be back to defend it next year."

Meanwhile, Sania Mirza [Images] was seeded eighth in the US $170,000 AIG Open WTA Tour event in Tokyo, Japan [Images].

The 18-year old Indian was drawn to take on a qualifier in the first round.

The Hyderabadi, who made a second round exit in a similar prize-money event in Kolkata last week, was paired with Israeli Shahar Peer in the doubles.

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