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India poised for tennis gold haul
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December 12, 2006 17:29 IST
Last Updated: December 12, 2006 21:42 IST

It was an excellent day for India at the tennis courts in the Asian Games in Doha on Tuesday, as Leander Paes [Images], Sania Mirza [Images] and Mahesh Bhupathi [Images] put the country in the running for three gold medals.

Sania set the ball rolling with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over top seed Na Li of China to enter the women's singles final before teaming up with Paes to secure a mixed doubles final berth.

Paes and Sania beat China's Yu Xinyuan and Tiantian Sun 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the semi-finals, at the Khalifa tennis and Squash Complex.

In between, defending champions Paes and Bhupathi took a little over an hour to make the grade in the men's doubles.

The top seeded Indian pair beat Cecil Mamiit and Frederick Taino of the Philippines 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals.

With the Philippine pair looking overawed by their opponents, the Indians breezed through the first set with breaks in the first, fifth and seventh games. However, the former world No. 1 duo faced unexpected resistance in the second, where Bhupathi failed to serve out the match in the eighth game, leading 5-2.

But after the Filipinos held serve in the ninth game, Paes ensured there were no further hiccups by clinching the match on his serve to secure a second successive Asian Games final.

The defending champions will face second seeds Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand, who thrashed Korea's Woong Sun Jun and Sun Young Kim 6-1, 6-3, in the other semi-final.

Paes-Sania came back strongly in the third set after surrendering the second 2-6.

India raced off to a 5-0 lead in the decider, breaking the Chinese pair in the second and fourth games, and easily served out the match 6-1 to take the match in 82 minutes.

The Indian duo, who won a bronze medal at the Busan Games, face Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami of Japan [Images] in the final.


Doha Asian Games 2006: The Complete Coverage




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