New Indian Tandem a Doubles Delight by YU YILEI Chennai Open in 2009, Where He CHINA DAILY Lost to Croatia’S Marin Cilic
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NOVEMBER 23, 20 CHINA DAILY PAGE 11 TENNIS & CYCLING New Indian tandem a doubles delight By YU YILEI Chennai Open in 2009, where he CHINA DAILY lost to Croatia’s Marin Cilic. But when Paes and Bhupathi GUANGZHOU — Leander were not available for the Guang- Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are zhou Games, Singh was aff orded a the most frequently mentioned spot on the Indian roster. names when talking about Indian “It’s a great honor for me to repre- men’s tennis. sent India and I’m happy I was able However a new, dynamic Indian to do this well this week,” he said. pair has arrived on the scene and His inclusion meant he was able is poised to accept to play alongside close friend Dev- the baton from its varman. famous compatriots. Th e latter put on hold his dream Somdev Dev- of becoming a professional player in TENNIS varman and Sanam 2004 and moved to the United States Krishan Singh to attend the University of Virginia, clinched the men’s doubles gold which boasts one of the best college medal at the Guangzhou Asian tennis programs in the US. Games on Monday in what could He won two NCAA titles in be the dawning of a new era in back-to-back seasons, defeating Indian tennis. John Isner in 2007 and JP Smith in “Th is is the best moment in my 2008, before he developed into the life. It is the fi rst time I have played top-ranked Indian pro. for India and to get a gold medal That prompted Singh to make with Somdev is special. It’s a dream the same decision and follow in come true,” said Singh after the Devvarman’s footsteps. Indians defeated the Chinese pair “I was actually talking with him of Gong Maoxin and Li Zhe 6-3, before I went there,” said Singh, a 6-7 (4), 10-8. native of Chandigarh. “It helped Th e pair had only played together me to make my decision.” NICOLAS ASFOURI / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE once before the Asiad, thanks to a Virginia head coach Brian Boland Somdev Devvarman (left) and Sanam Krishan Singh of India celebrate their win over Gong Maoxin and Li Zhe wild-card entry into January’s also believes Devvarman played a of China in the fi nal of the men’s doubles tennis competition on Monday. Chennai Open on home soil. pivotal role in Singh’s decision. Th ey reached the semifi nals in that “Sanam’s early mindset was to the No 1 player in the Intercolle- feel like that’s why we gel well a break from his studies to play in event. turn professional and not go to col- giate Tennis Association rankings together and we complement Guangzhou. Despite a successful international lege,” Boland told the Asian Games in 2005. In March, Singh reached each other’s games. We are happy Also, his low ranking could debut, they did not expect to play News Service in an e-mail interview. No 2. that we have had the chance to prevent him from attending the together in Guangzhou. “However, aft er he saw the improve- Interestingly, the two never do this.” same professional tournaments as Singh, 22, is a senior at the Uni- ment in Somdev’s game, he began to played with each other in Virginia. However, there is still a long Devvarman. versity of Virginia with little pro- see college as a real option.” But their performances already way to go before the two play “I will go back to college and get fessional experience and no ATP Singh soon took the same path as show a special chemistry that Paes together consistently as Singh still my degree fi rst,” Singh said. “I also ranking while Devvarman, 25, is a Devvarman, who graduated with a and Bhupathi once shared. has six months to go before hope- have to lift my ranking so that we pro who once was ranked 94 in the degree in sociology in 2008. “We are very good friends and fully graduating with a degree in can play in the same tournaments world and made it to the fi nal of the Devvarman was briefl y ranked very close,” said Devvarman. “I foreign affairs. He had to ask for in the future.” Fortune smiles on Asia’s ‘god of cycling’ as he bags a hat-trick By TANG ZHE 180-kilometer race in four hours, “I wasn’t competing with the feel this was the toughest match for CHINA DAILY 14 minutes and 54.18 seconds, mindset that this is my last Asian Wong, even harder than the track while the Korean was relegated to Games, because that would have races at the world championships,” GUANGZHOU — It might 19th place for swerving. infl uenced by performance,” said said Shen. have been the longest 15 minutes Takashi Miyazawa of Japan, Wong, who also has an Asian “Th e road race requires courage in Wong Kam Po’s 16 years at the who trailed Wong by 15/100 of a Games bronze medal. and comprehensive skills to tackle Asian Games. second, moved up to second spot He admitted that he wasn’t sure various unexpected situations, and In between finishing the men’s and China’s Zou Rongxi collected before the race if he still has the it’s very physically demanding.” individual road the bronze medal. muscle to pull through over such It also requires a little luck, race 0.01 of a sec- “I was a little nervous, but con- a fearsome distance. which on Monday favored Wong ond behind Korea’s fi dent when waiting for the judg- “I just did everything I could to instead of Park. CYCLING Park Sung-baek on ment,” said Wong. be at my best before and during the The Korean camp was quite Monday and wait- “The Korean’s foul was quite competition,” he said. vocal in expressing its belief that ing for the judges to deliberate on obvious. But even if I got the silver, “Cycling is a collective event, the punishment handed to its top a called foul, the 37-year-old Hong I’d still be satisfied with today’s and it’s very hard to win because racer was unfair, especially as it Kong racer must have wondered performance.” all your opponents keep their eye was decided by a panel made up EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY whether the gods were on his side. Wong, who won his fi rst Asiad on you if you go in as the favorite.” largely of Chinese and Japanese Wong Kam Po of Hong Kong raises As it turns out, they were, and title at Bangkok 1998 and his second Shen Jinkang, head coach of the judges. Several other riders in the his hand to protest a violation by the man dubbed Asia’s “god of at Busan 2002, has since emerged as Hong Kong cycling team, spoke event said it was a little harsh as Park Sung-baek of Korea at the cycling” picked up his third title one of Hong Kong’s most infl uential highly of his star’s performance. maintaining a straight line in the fi nish line of the men’s individual in fi ve Asiads, having fi nished the sports icons. “He did quite well today, and I race is not always easy. road race on Monday. .