LUCKNOW, FEBRUARY 5: Hichaam Zaatini and Ali Hamadeh beat Leander Paes and Syed Fazluddin as India lost the key doubles to Lebanon keep Sunday's reverse singles of the Asia Oceania Group One first round tie alive at the Oudh Gymkhana.Fortunes changed in the eighth game of the fourth set. India were up two sets to one and the game score read 3-4. No breaks thus far in the set. Paes was serving advantage in. Fazal then did what he did on countless occasions on this sorry Saturday. He put yet another simple volley into the net to lose the advantage. Lebanon went on to win the set and eventually the match.What Fazal did was criminal, not just because he did it at such a crucial juncture, but because he did it time and time again. It is doubtful whether Fazal would have returned more than half a dozen times in the whole match and even Paes could not be everywhere all the time to make up for his partner's lapses. And how the Indian and World No 1 doubles player tried. He played a quite fantastic game - heserved with his heart, he banged down everything he could lay his hands on and was lethal at the net. But he could not return for Fazal.Fazal was a marked man from around the second set. Any ball the Lebanese players could control, they sent back to him. Despite Paes, who normally makes use of all chances, India surprisingly converted only one of the 11 break points they held.The first two sets saw no breaks of serve on either side. In the third set, the Indians took advantage of Hamadeh's erratic first serve to break in the third game and hold on from there, converting on the first set point. They could not break Zaatini, who, despite having medicine sprayed on his right shoulder at Saturday's pre-match practice session, served splendidly. He remained the only one with his serve unbroken at the end of the match.It was when Fazal served that Paes' class act really came through. He would stand at the net, the complete doubles professional, and whack down anything that came back. It was no wonder then,that Fazal's serve did not get broken till the first game of the decider.``Play from the heart,'' Paes could be seen telling Fazal towards the final stages of the match. Fazal did that on Friday to close out the match against Zaatini. But on Saturday, he was just not there, at any level. ``We were not worried if Paes played good,'' said Lebanese captain Raymond Kattoura after the match. It was India versus Lebanon for us, not Leander versus Lebanon.'' On Sunday, Paes takes on Lebanese No 1 Zaatini in the first reverse singles, the rain gods permitting. Zaatini will surely have a go at the Indian. He has nothing to lose. Lebanon have already performed much better than they expected. Anything from here on will be a bonus.Day Two ScoreIndia 0 .Lebanon 1Leander Paes & Syed Fazaluddinlost Hicham Zaatini & Ali Hamadeh6-7 (2/7), 7-6(7/3), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
