DOHA: It would have been a routine match any other time. But, these are tough times and nothing can be taken for granted, when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are on court.

Under a bright sun, in front of an appreciative audience and the probing looks of the Indian media, the top-seeded Leander and Mahesh started their doubles title defence in right earnest, beating an unknown Hong Kong pair 6-0, 6-4 in the first round, in the 15th Asian Games at the Khalifa Tennis Complex here on Saturday.

Hiccup

After racing away with the first set in 15 minutes, the Indian duo slackened its hold a bit in the second set. Leander got broken in the second game and the team trailed 0-3. However, order was restored as the Hong Kong pair was broken back in the fifth game and later in the ninth. Leander served out the match and assured that the team would put its best foot forward to go all the way to the gold.

The former World No. 1 pair will next be challenged by Mohammed al Ghareeb and Ahmad Mohammad of Kuwait in the pre-quarterfinals.

Later, Leander returned to the centre court with Sania Mirza, as the top seed in the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals and entertained the crowd on way to a smooth triumph over the Uzbek pair of Murad Inoyatov and Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva. The Uzbeks could not settle down to provide a decent opposition for the bronze medallists of the last edition.

Resounding start

The other Indian men's pair, the fourth-seeded Rohan Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse also had a resounding start, beating a Bahrain combination 6-2, 6-1.

Bopanna, seeded eighth in singles, suffered a surprisingly easy straight-set defeat at the hands of Sun Peng of China in 43 minutes, but Karan Rastogi stayed afloat, as he thrashed Oyunbat Baatar of Mongolia for the loss of one game.

Karan will once again clash with fourth-seeded Yeu Tzuoo Wang of Chinese Taipei who had beaten him in the team competition.

Shikha Uberoi sweated it out on tired legs against Linda Ahmad of Bahrain 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 to set up a second round against second-seeded Zheng Jie of China.

Shikha could have closed out the match a lot earlier but lost seven points on the trot in the second set tie-break after having taken a 5-2 lead. When a spectator called out to her from across the fence on court No.1 to take a deep breath after a hard rally, Shikha reacted saying, "I need a nap''.

After having played till 1.15 a.m. in the women's team final, Shikha was back on court in the afternoon, punishing her body with athletic runs all over the court. She made the task tougher for herself by playing back to the opponent, but persevered to pull through.

Shikha-Bhupathi ousted

In the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals, the second-seeded Shikha Uberoi and Mahesh Bhupathi were knocked out 6-4, 6-4 by Suchanan Viratprasert and Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand.

The results: Men's singles (second round): Karan Rastogi bt Oyunbat Baatar (Mgl) 6-0, 6-1; Sun Peng (Chn) bt Rohan Bopanna 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles (first round): Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi bt Hiu Tung Yu & Wing Luen Wayne Wang (Hkg) 6-0, 6-4; Mustafa Ghouse & Rohan Bopanna bt Abdulrahman Shehab & Abdul Latif Mohamed (Brn) 6-2, 6-1.

Women's singles (first round): Shikha Uberoi bt Linda Ahmad (Brn) 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5.

Doubles (first round): Ankita Bhambri & Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Mai Huynh Huynh & Viet Ha Ngo (Vie) 6-3, 6-3.

Mixed doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Sania Mirza & Leander Paes bt Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva & Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) 6-1, 6-3; Suchanan Viratprasert & Sanchai Ratiwatana (Tha) bt Shikha Uberoi & Mahesh Bhupathi 6-4, 6-4.

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