Paes-Bhupathi strike gold

The Indian duo beat Thailand's Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana 5-7 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 in a final lasting almost three hours, reports Ajai Masand.

The clouds above were laden with rain, the stadium below pregnant with expectation. And, in between, there was a mini-India lustily cheering their tennis heroes, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, on Wednesday.

HT Image

The Tricolour fluttered — you don't see so many back home even on a sunny Davis Cup day — but here on a cold and windy evening at the Khalifa Tennis Complex, the atmosphere was so charged up that it could have lit up a million bulbs.

But that was bound to be, with even the gigantic floodlight towers paling before the incandescence of the battle-hardened Indian duo, who took it upon themselves to show the 5,000-strong crowd that they had the energy and the guts to tame the best in Asia.

Somewhere, in the stands — well, one could see more hands waving the Tri-colour than the faces — a placard popped up. "Leander is the lion and Mahesh the tiger."

Sure, the two were on the prowl right from the start, grew hungry as the games advanced and devoured their opponents with a final flourish, clawing the gold and extending their reign for four years.

They fought with true grit, and the sweat and tears were there for all to see when Leander looked to the stands longingly, tears rolling down his cheeks. He had just saved the match from slipping into the hands of the Thai doubles pair of Sanchai Ratiwatana and Soncha Ratiwatana, who too probably played the best tennis of their life.

Everyone — Indian expatriates, players from other nationalities, officials and mediapersons — at that point in time felt one with the man who so solidly fought for India's pride that he forgot his own identity. With prayer on everyone's lips and belief that they could never let the country down, the Indian duo came from a set down to break the iron-willed resolve of the Thai twins, who had all but taken away the match with their superb services and baseline game.

There were plots and sub-plots in the two-hour-43 minute marathon, which the Indians finally clinched 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, but none was more enthralling than the way the Indians saved six match-points in the 12th game of the second set and then won the tie-breaker 9-7 after saving two more match-points.

Down three match points, and with Mahesh serving, the duo was staring down the barrel, before they made up for their lapses to bring the game at deuce. And after saving three more match-points at deuce, they held serve to take the match into tie-break. The nerve-wracking tie-break was not meant for the faint-hearted, and after a roller-coaster of emotions, they won it.

The rain came and with that the tired feet got a much-needed respite. For a moment it seemed the rain gods wanted to please the Indians. When the devastating duo came back, refreshed and refuelled, energy flowed everywhere — on the court and off it.

When the Indians broke the Thai pair in the second game of the decider, the din and the roar reached a crescendo. Mahesh being broken in the third game was just a blemish and, from then on, the duo played as if this was a parting gift they had to give each other. They shared a couple of chest bumps, delighted the cameramen, and then reeled off winner after winner to win the final set 6-3.
One doesn't know if those chest bumps would come again. But those who captured it for posterity would definitely frame them in gold. It was India's biggest and best golden moment at the Games. Let's cherish the duo.

Sania manages a silver

Sania Mirza had the crowd rooting for her till the last minute. But all the chants and roars could not motivate her to get past Zheng Jie in the final of the women's singles, as Zheng won 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Jie braved cramps and the lethal Sania forehand to win gold.

Though it seemed the Indian ace could come back after losing the opening set 6-4, when she broke the Chinese in the third, fifth and seventh games to be an easy 6-1 winner in the second set. But Jie recovered to break Sania in the opening game of the final set, and then holding her serve to lead 2-0. Sania held her own, but failed to win another game.