The Hindu : Paes-Bhupathi combine magic works

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 12, 2002

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Paes-Bhupathi combine magic works

By A. Vinod

Leander Paes in action as Mahesh Bhupathi is all attention during the men's doubles tennis at the Asian Games on Friday. They won India's 10th gold defeating South Korea. — Photo: V. Sudershan

BUSAN Oct. 11. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi joining hands — in tune with the wishes of their thousands of fans and friends — to once again conquer the ATP tour does not seem likely in the near future. It could also never happen at all.

But then, one did not have to look far to conclude how the pair could still be a formidable combine; as Paes and Bhupathi shot down the aspirations of Chung Hee-Seok and Lee Hyung-Taik (South Korea) 6-2, 6-3 and helped India to the gold in the men's doubles of the 14th Asian Games on Friday.

The top-seeded pair was at the centre-court of the Geumjeong stadium for only 64 minutes as it tore apart the name-sake opposition. For Paes, it was his second gold in the event, having won it in the company of Gaurav Natekar at Hiroshima in 1994.

However, India's and Mahesh Bhupathi's dream of a second gold failed to materialise later in the day when the Bangalore ace and Manisha Malhotra was forced to settle for the silver in the mixed doubles by the Chinese Taipei pair of Lu Yen Hsun and Janet Whids Lee in a thrilling three-setter, 4-6, 6-3, 9-7. Yet, the silver, the gold and two bronzes (won by losing semifinalists Paes and Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles and Vishal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse in the men's doubles) marked a great improvement on the four bronzes India had won in Bangkok four years ago.

The Indian duo got their breakthrough as early as in the third game of the first set when Bhupathi, twice with sound interception at the net, and Paes with a great volley broke Chung in style. The games thereafter went with serve before Chung was again broken in the seventh game with Paes coming up with a well-executed drop volley from mid-court and Bhupathi setting up winners on either side of the court.

Serving for the set, Paes was in trouble in the eighth game and was down a game-point before he and Bhupathi rallied to take the lead in exactly 27 minutes. The Indians, pumped up by now, started off with another break — this time embarrassing Lee — in the opening game of the second set.

However, into the fourth game, the Indians themselves seemed heading for trouble when the Koreans suddenly moved up to gain a break point and then held advantage twice at deuce.

But, Paes and Bhupathi were not to surrender the advantage, fighting back brilliantly to keep their lead intact. And then came the crucial break which gave the Indians the second set and the match, after the games had gone with serve through the fifth to eighth games.

The break came once again off Lee's serve, but not before the Koreans had saved three match points. The end for the Koreans finally came off the fourth match-point enjoyed by the Indians, when a lucky net chord by Bhupathi saw both Chung and Lee stranded in mid-court.

Bhupathi-Manisha get silver

Bhupathi and Manisha were down a break in the initial stages of the mixed doubles before they rushed back into picture to equal the scores at 4-4 and then took the first set with another break of serve in the ninth. But then, Lu and Janet proved to be tough rivals for the Indians as they pushed the tie into the decider, taking the second set quite easily at 6-3.

The tide seemed to be in favour of the Indians when they surged ahead to a 3-0 lead. This, after, Bhupathi had been treated on court for spasms in the back before the start of the third set. But then, the Taipei players were soon on a comeback trail breaking Manisha for the first time in the match in the seventh game. The games then went with serve before Lu and Janet earned another break of Manisha's serve in the 15th game. It was all over for the Indians soon thereafter.

Gold for Tulyaganova

Earlier, Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan took the women's singles gold with a 6-1, 6-3 upset win over top-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand in just 69 minutes. The Uzbek won nine of the first 10 games before she was broken in the fourth game of the second set. However, Tulyaganova, ranked 40th on the WTA Tour, never allowed her higher-ranked rival to equalise, and claimed the match with an overhead smash.

The results:

Men's singles (semifinals): Srichaphan Paradorn (Tha) bt Oleg Ogorodov (Uzb) 6-3, 6-3; Lee Hyung-Taik (Kor) bt Takao Suzuki (Jpn) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Doubles (final): Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) bt Chung Hee-Seok/Lee Hyung-Taik (Kor) 6-2, 6-3.

Women's singles (final): Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzb) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 6-1, 6-3. Doubles (semifinals): Adiati Wynne Prakusya/Angelique Widjaja (Ina) bt Saori Obata/Akiko Morigami (Jpn) 6-3, 3-6, 9-7; Kim Mi-Ok/Choi Young-Ja (Kor) bt Yuka Yoshida/Miho Saeki (Jpn) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

Mixed doubles (final): Lu Yen Hsun/Janet Whids Lee (Tpe) bt Mahesh Bhupathi/Manisha Malhotra (Ind) 4-6, 6-3, 9-7.

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