Leander wins title, Bhupathi enters final

It was a perfect end to the first of the four tournaments Indian doubles ace Leander Paes expects to play before the Athens Olympics. Paes a...

It was a perfect end to the first of the four tournaments Indian doubles ace Leander Paes expects to play before the Athens Olympics. Paes and his partner David Rikle defended the Allianz Swiss Open title at Gstaad on Sunday.

The win proved memorable for Paes as it happened to be against his long-time Swiss rival Marc Rosset, who was partnering Stanislas Warinka. Before the Gstaad event Paes and Rosset had a 1-1 head-to-head record in doubles. Paes won the last encounter at New Haven in ’98 but had lost in Davis Cup. Today Paes nosed ahead with 6-4, 6-2 win.

In the first set Paes and Rikle got their decisive second break in the 7th game while in the second they broke Rosset and Wawrinka twice to lead 4-0 and later won 6-2.

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The title — Paes’ 29th of the career — helped the pair defend 175 points and share the cheque of $15,000. This was the second time in his career that Paes had defended a title.

Meanwhile, Paes’ partner at the Athens Olympics Mahesh Bhupathi too tasted success. At the Swedish Open, Bhupathi and Jonas Bjorkman entererd the final after a two-day wait. In the semis on Sunday, they got the better of third seeded Karsten Braasch (Germany)/ Mariusz Fyrstenberg 6-3, 6-3.

Nepal Army chief steps in, ex-Chief Justice agrees to be interim head

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General Ashok Raj Sigdel successfully convinced former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to become the interim Chief Executive after violent protests led to the fall of the K P Sharma Oli government. He held talks with various groups and proposed an interim government to restore peace. Karki, with the support of the Nepal Army, will work towards delivering a new Constitution.

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