Doha, Dec 12: India were assured of a triple from the tennis courts with Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi storming their way into the finals of the women`s
singles, the men`s doubles and the mixed-doubles at the Asian Games here today.
Twenty-year-old Sania scripted a sensational upset win over top seed Li Na of China 6-2, 6-2 and set up a title clash with another Chinese, Jie Zheng, at the Khalifa International
Stadium.
Paes and Bhupathi then steamrolled their way into the doubles final with a facile 6-2, 6-4 victory over the Filippino pair of Cecil Mamiit and Frederick Taino.
Later, Sania combined with Paes to knockout China`s Xinyuan Yu and Tiantian Sun 6-3 2-6 6-1 and book their berth in the mixed-doubles final again Satoshi Iwabuchi and Aiko
Morigami of Japan.
Beating Na, who became the first Chinese woman to reach Wimbledon quarterfinals this year, has a lot of significance for Sania.
On the only occasion the two had met before, in the final of the Asian Tennis Championships in Tashkent in 2004, Na had conquered the Hyderabadi lass to confirm a wild card entry into the Australian Open main draw the following January.
But Na improved her ranking in the subsequent weeks to earn a direct entry into the year`s first grand slam, and the wild card was passed on to Sania.
The rest is history.
"I knew I had to attack her strong forehand. I had to keep the momentum in the second set because a ranked player like Na could fight back any time. I had played her once
earlier but had lost. It was a big match, one of the better matches I have played," said Sania who has not conceded a set in Doha so far.
Sania`s opponent in the final, Zheng, thrashed Japan`s third seeded Aiko Nakamura 6-3 6-2 in the other semifinal.
Paes and Bhupathi had no difficulty in brushing aside the challenge of the fifth seeded Philippines pair as they took quick control of the contest by breaking them in the first and
seventh games to wrap up the first set without much ado.
In the second set, the Indians broke their rivals in the fifth and seventh games but allowed the match to stretch a little longer by failing to hold serve in the eighth game.
They will now take on the second seeded Ratiwatane brothers, Sonchat and Sanchai, in the final.
The Thai pair prevailed over Korea`s Jun Woong Sun and Kim Sun Young 6-1, 6-3 in the semi-finals.
Bureau Report
