New Delhi: India's lone title hope at the ONGC ATP Challenger was dashed today as Rohan Bopanna, partnering Pakistan's Aisam -Ul Haq Qureshi, lost the doubles final to top seed Wesley Moodie and Rik De Voest.

Second seeded Qureshi and Bopanna went down 6-4 7-6 (4) to the South African pair in the $50,000 event at DLTA Courts here.

Qureshi, however, continued his red hot form in singles and dispatched Adrian Cruciat of Romania 6-1 6-4 without even a semblance of fight to romp into the final.

In doubles, Bopanna and Qureshi, who had won four Challenger tournaments this season to push their doubles ranking to 69 and 91 respectively, did not quite set the courts ablaze and had to be content with 38 points besides $1,800 prize money.

Moodie and Voest won a purse of $3,100 and 55 ATP points. Bopanna dropped his serve in the third game as Moodie, winner of 2005 Wimbledon doubles title, and Voest relied on their powerful service to clinch the first set.

Bopanna faced troubles in saving his serves too. The Indo-Pak express had their chances but could not make them count as the match reached tie-breaker which was won by Moodie and Voest 4-7.

Qureshi, however, sizzled in singles and took just one hour to pack off Adrian in straight sets to reach his second Challenger final of the season.
Qureshi, seeded sixth, will have to get past Korea's An Sung Jae to lift his first ATP Challenger title tomorrow.

Source : PTI