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No hash, just a simple stroll in the park
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi played a clinical game against Pakistan to secure a semifinal berth, writes Ajai Masand.
No sweat, no grind, just a cakewalk in 68 minutes flat. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi played a clinical game against Pakistan's Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan to secure a semifinal berth and ensure a medal for the country.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, Sania Mirza moved into semifinals after beating Thailand’s Suchanan Viratprasert 6-3, 6-2. However, Rohan Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse were beaten in straight sets by their Korean opponents in another doubles quarterfinal tie.
On a day when the entire cue-sport contingent and a host of other Indian sportspersons lazed around in the stands after finishing their assignments, the charged-up Indian tennis pair completed the formalities for the day without having to dig deep into the reserves.
The Indians exploited the easy link— Aqeel Khan — to the hilt to win 6-2, 6-4, and the manner in which the defending champions played, with Leander punching volleys off and on with élan, and Mahesh, despite some unforced errors, playing well within himself, it was just a matter of time before they subdued the Pakistani pair.
Aisam, who had partnered Leander in the Kingfisher Open recently and was part of the Pakistan Davis Cup contingent that lost to India in the Asia Oceania Group this year, was always going to be a tough opponent, and the outcome depended on how Aqeel tempered himself for the big match.
Saying that Aqeel failed miserably would be an understatement as he hardly had any winners in the opening set that Pakistan lost 2-6 after being broken in the first and third games.
An inauspicious beginning with Aisam losing his serve and then Aqeel making a hash of his own saw India jump to a 3-0 lead much before the late-comers — thinking that the match would not have started because of the early morning showers — had settled down.
After that, things went with serve with Mahesh holding the sixth serve without conceding a single point, finishing it off with a superb backhand smash from close to the net.
The only time the Indian pair was tested in the opening set was when, serving for the set, Leander was down two points at 15-40 but two fine volleys by Mahesh brought the game at deuce and the Indians finally won the set.
"To say that it was an easy match would be wrong," said Mahesh, who spoke to the media first at Leander's behest. "We don't take anyone for granted but we were a lot more confident today after winning the last three matches," said Mahesh. "Aisam is a very good player and we wouldn't want to take any chances with him."
Leander also had some encouraging words for the balding Pakistani after the thrashing. "It was a very unorthodox combination with one player (Aisam) so good and the other (Aqeel) just trying to keep up with his (higher ranked) compatriot," he said.
When someone drew their attention to their loss to Chinese Taipei in the doubles match in the team competition, a visibly agitated Leander said: "One bad match cannot nullify the good work of an entire life."
The second set went with serve till the ninth game when the Pakistan duo shot themselves in the foot: Aisam committed a double-fault, Aqeel netted a volley and finally, Aisam was unable to negotiate a Leander half-volley, and the Pakistani duo lost the game at love.
With Mahesh serving for the match, he sent an irretrievable serve, then hit a great crosscourt backhand and finally, Aqeel sent a return long to end the match. So far so good, and the No 1 ranked pair now takes on the winners of the match between Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin-Murad Inoyatova and the Philippines' Cecil Mamit-Frederick Taino.
