Busan: India's star doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi completed their reunion in a flourish winning the men's doubles tennis gold here in the Asian Games on Friday.

In a totally one-sided match, Paes and Bhupathi defeated South Korea's Lee Hyung Taik and Chung Hee-Seok 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and four minutes. While this was the first Asiad gold for Bhupathi, for Paes, it was the third gold winning effort after winning two in team events and doubles partnering Gaurav Natekar in the 1994 Games at Hiroshima.

The Indians broke the home pair twice in each set – in the third and fifth games in the first set, and in the first and ninth in the second – as they stamped their class. The two had won three Grand Slam crowns before separating earlier this year.

So deep was the chasm in standards that any fears the Indians, having not played together since their split early this year, had was quickly trashed. "Our experience of having played together for seven years helped overcome the pre-tournament concerns... once the Games started we gelled well," said Paes after the win.

"We needed a good start, and after third game in the first set we got the momentum going," he said.

While Paes struggled with his serve a bit, Bhupathi, who last month won the US Open doubles crown with Max Mirnyi of Belarus, was fluent and the dominant partner.

"It was not an easy match. The opponents were of top quality... it was a matter of keeping our standards high," Paes said. The tough three-setter the Indians had to play in the semi-final against another Korean pair - Kim dong-Hyun and Kwon Oh-Lee - also served as a wake-up call.

"That match tested us a lot, and in a way helped us to prepare for today's match," said Paes, who struggled a bit on Friday due to a torn ligament and the rough court.

"The doctors did a good job to bring me back to shape. And that was another reason I did not play in the singles," Paes said. India also won the bronze in the doubles event after Vishal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse reached the semi-finals where they lost to the Korean pair.

PTI