Paes crashes, Bhupathi advances

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the two Indians at the $50,000 King's Cup Thailand Open tennis at the Muang Thong Thani Complex, in Bangkok, on Tuesday, as Leander Paes crashed out in the first round of the men's singles while Mahesh Bhupathi scraped through to the second.

Paes, who got a direct entry into the event, lost to the in-form qualifier Lior Dahan of Israel 2-6, 6-4, 2-6.

As expected, Paes, who had not played singles matches after the Davis Cup tie against the United States, was a bit rusty and had trouble playing against an in-form and match-fit qualifier, who had given a good account of himself in the Futures events in India last month.

However, his compatriot Bhupathi saved the day for India by defeating Indonesia's Suwandi Suwandi 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2.

Bhupathi now faces seventh seed Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands in the second round. Verkerk defeated qualifier Evgueni Smirnov of Russia 6-3, 6-1 in his first round match.

In other first round matches, local star and third seed Paradorn Srichaphan defeated Australian Peter Luczak 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5); Japan's Goichi Motomura comfortably defeated local wild-card Attapol Rithiwattanapong 6-4, 6-1; second seed Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea got past qualifier James Auckland of the Great Britain 6-3 6-2; top seeded Andrei Stoliarov of Russia defeated Takao Suzuki of Japan 6-2, 6-0; Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan defeated wildcard Edwin Kerkhoven of the Netherlands 6-0, 6-2.

In the doubles, Paes will partner Mustafa Ghouse to enable the youngster gain some match practise and points. The duo will face top seeds Dennis Golovanov of Russia and Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan.

Bhupathi is playing with Vittaya Samrej of Thailand. The duo will take-on qualifiers Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea and Frank Moser of Germany.

In the women's section, Rushmi Chakravarti crashed out of the $25,000 Queen's Cup Thailand Open.

Rushmi went down to Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine 4-6, 2-6 in her first round match.

Another Indian in the draw, Sai Jayalakshmi will face wildcard Chin-Bee Khoo of Malaysia in the first round.

In the doubles, Rushmi and Sai Jayalakshmi lost to the top seeds Leanne Baker and Shelley Stephens of New Zealand 1-6, 1-6 in the first round.

Meanwhile, Manisha Malhotra is partnering Mi-Ra Jeon of Korea. The duo is seeded second and will face Yiliana Fedak of Ukraine and Irina Kornienko of Russia in the first round.

Related report:
Paes, Bhupathi for Thailand Open