Paes-Bhupathi shocking defeat, out in the first round at the Asian Games

December 04, 2006, Rediff.com

India suffered a shock defeat in the first round of the men's team event in tennis when the champion pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes went down meekly to Chinese Taipei's Yeu Tzuoo Wang and Yen Hsun Lu in the doubles at the Asian Games in Doha on Monday.

The Chinese beat Paes-Bhupathi 6-2, 6-3 in 76 minutes to hand India a 2-1 defeat at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.

India's top-ranked player Rohan Bopanna had earlier drawn India level with a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory over Lu. After losing the first set in 34 minutes, Bopanna forced the second in the tie-break to eventually win it.

Wang outclassed Karan Rastogi 6-1, 6-3 in the opening singles.

Hosts Qatar, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Japan, Bahrain, Korea and the Philippines advanced to the men's team quarter-finals along with the Chinese Taipei.