LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 1: The Oudh Gymkhana galleries waited an hour-and-a-half for Leander Paes to take his spot in the sun in the round of 16 of the BPL ATP Challenger. Paes wrapped up the match against Barry Cowan 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.Paes did play like a man in a hurry to finish things off. The hard-working Cowan was no match for Paes, who looked like to finish Cowan and the match before the sun went down. He served up some scorching aces and played a solid game, letting Cowan take the chances.He broke the Englishman in the fourth game and lost his first point on serve only in the next, his third service game. An already-rattled Cowan was also disturbed thrice in the act of serving by ringing mobile phones.Paes was cruising (he was 5-2 up) but he played some loose shots to be down 15-40, made up for deuce and then hit out and double-faulted to lose the game. For the next couple of games, his serves seemed to have lost the ferocity and his shots fell just out. Then in the 11th game, 15-30 down, Paes made an incredible pick-up.He served, Cowan returned and Paes hit back. Cowan moved in and dropped it just over. Paes ran forward, dived parallel to the ground and played it in the middle of the opposite court. Cowan was left standing. Thereafter Paes wrapped up the match.Paes is now India's only hope, as Prahlad Srinath allowed Oleg Ogorodov's presence and his own inability to close out the match. He allowed Srinath to make a brief appearance in the second set before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. What was heartening was watching Mustafa Ghouse and Vishal Uppal. Lack of experience at this level resulted in their losing nerve right at the end.RESULTS :Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Oleg Ogorodov (Uzb) bt Prahlad Srinath (Ind) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, Paradorn Srichaphan (Tha) bt Luke Milligan (GBR) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, Ivan Vajda (Cro) bt Martin Lee (GBR) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), Jamie Delgado (GBR) bt Vladimir Platenik (Svk) 6-2, 6-1, Tuomas Ketola (Fin) bt Ivo Karlovic (Cro) 6-3, 6-4, Satoshi Iwabuchi (Jpn) bt Kristian Pless (Den) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, Takahiro Terachi (Jpn) bt Nitin Kirtane (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; Leander Paes (Ind) bt Barry Cowan (GBR) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2Doubles (quarter-finals): Tuomas Anzari (Czech)/Oleg Ogorodov (Uzb) bt Mustafa Ghouse/Vishal Uppal (Ind) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), Mose Navarra (Ita)/Luke Milligan (GBR) bt Nitin Kirtane/Sandeep Kirtane (Ind) 7-6 (9-7), 6-1.
