The top seeded Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna outplayed Adelo Abadia and Johnny Arcilla of The Philippines to storm into the tennis doubles final at the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Bhupathi, one of the top doubles players on the ATP Tour, and Bopanna were unchallenged by their unseeded opponents and won 6-3, 6-2.
They meet compatriots Sunil Kumar Sipaeya and Vinod Sridhar, who beat Abdul Bablola and Sunday Maku of Nigeria 6-1, 6-0 in the other semi-final.
Bhupathi, playing his first match at the Games, and Bopanna combined well and came up with some breathtaking volleys and booming serves as their opponents stood watching for most part of the tie. But they had the consolation of breaking the Indians once each set.
Though Bopanna was broken in the second game of the first set, the Indians bounced back to break Arcilla in the very next game and level scores. With breaks in the fifth and ninth games, the top seeded pair took the first set comfortably.
The second set was even more lop-sided, with Bhupathi, winner of four Grand Slam titles, coming up with some solid returns and Bopanna pouncing on loose balls to finish the rally.
A few unforced errors saw Bhupathi being broken in the third game, but the Indian duo hit back, breaking Abadia in the very next game. From then on the Indians hit the cruise mode and broke Arcilla in the sixth game to go up 4-2.
They meet compatriots Sunil Kumar Sipaeya and Vinod Sridhar, who beat Abdul Bablola and Sunday Maku of Nigeria 6-1, 6-0 in the other semi-final.
