A winning combination Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and
Rohan Bopanna»s universal
and timeless message of
peace makes them winners,
even when they lose
The 'Indo-Pak Express' - as the tennis
doubles team of the Pakistani Aisam
ul-Haq Qureshi (Aman ki Asha ambassador)
and Indian Rohan Bopanna is
known -- forced its way past the 'Indian Express'
- third-seeded Indian pair Leander Paes
and Mahesh Bhupathi at the quarter finals at
the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California
last week.
In the tightly contested match between the
current runners up of the Australian Open and
the US Open, it was the Indo-Pak duo that
came out on top with a spectacular 6-3, 6-4.
Momentum swung from one side of the net
to the other in this nerve-wracking encounter,
where the first set saw a total of three breaks of
serve. The Indo-Pak Express showed its
strength before their far more experienced opponents
Paes and Bhupathi. Their skill was evident
in the way they fought back against
Aisam and Rohan in the second set, carving
out three break points in the very first service
game. However, Aisam and Bopanna remained
unnerved in the face of this onslaught, and
took their points one at a time to take the game
in an emphatic win.
Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna
next had another spectacular win in the quarter
final against the top Serbian pairing of
Novak Djokovic (current Australian Open
champion and singles world number three)
and Victor Troicki 6-1, 7-6 (5).
The Indo-Pak pair raced away with the
opening set easily after breaking Djokovic and
Troicki twice but faced a stiffly-contested second
set. Both teams held serves, failing to convert
any of the break chances they earned.
The issue was settled in the tie breaker in
which Bopanna and Qureshi held their nerves
to emerge triumphant.
Their winning streak was halted in the
men's doubles semi-finals of the BNP Paribas
tournament as they went down to Belgian
Xavier Malisse and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov
- but not without a good fight 6-3,
3-6, 8-10.
Regardless of whether they win or lose,
for millions of Indians and Pakistanis, and for
peace-lovers across the world, the Indo-Pak
Express will always be a winner for its universal
and timeless message of peace and
goodwill.
- aka

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

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