Sania-Sunitha duo crash out of Olympics

A half-fit Sania Mirza and rookie Sunitha Rao tried every tricks in the book but still could not avert a defeat against top seeded Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina in the second round of the women's doubles tennis event of the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

The Indian scratch pair fought tooth and nail but it was the Russian pair, which ended on the right side of the nearly one-and-half hour battle, which they won 6-4, 6-4.

To their credit, Sania and Sunitha tried their best but the Russians were simply head and shoulders above them and in the end, their effort was just to delay the inevitable.

Sania, battling a wrist injury that forced her to retire midway through her first round singles match, and Sunitha, who had right thigh heavily strapped, began in the right earnest, breaking both the Russians to go 3-0 up in the first set.

But before the set could slip through their fingers, the Russians fought back. Shocked by the reversal, they responded by breaking back Sania in the fourth and Sunitha in the ninth games to eventually seal the set in 43 minutes.

The Indians shrugged off the setback and resumed with renewed vigour and they broke Safina in the third game to go 2-1 up but the Russians were at it again. They broke Sunitha in the fourth game to draw parity and even though Kuznetsova could not held her serve, the Russians placed them firmly in command of the proceedings and never relaxed their grip.

Sania expresses desire to play in Pakistan

India's tennis ace Sania Mirza has expressed her desire to play exhibition matches in Pakistan if such an opportunity comes her way in future.

Sania, who pulled out of her women's singles first round match against Czech Iveta Benesova due to a wrist injury, told a group of Pakistani reporters in Beijing that she had no problems playing in Pakistan.

"I think it is a good idea if such an opportunity comes my way to go and play in Pakistan," she said.

Sania commands great fan following in Pakistan where tennis remains a relatively low key sport compared to cricket and hockey.

"You don't have tournaments there otherwise I would have loves to come and play in Pakistan," she said.

However, the 21-year-old Indian, ranked 65 in the world, said her Pakistan tour would totally depend on her schedule.

Overwhelmed to know about her fan following in Pakistan, she said whenever she visited Pakistan as a junior player she received good reception.

"I remember that my first ever tournament outside India was in Pakistan. Its great place and I will definitely go there in future when the opportunity comes," said Sania.

She was also hopeful that with the rise of players like Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, tennis would eventually grow in popularity in the strife-torn nation.

"This will happen specially with Aisamul Haq performing and playing so well. I am sure a lot more people will be coming up to play tennis in Pakistan," said Sania.