Indian tennis arrived at the 2002 Asian Games with an established generation led by Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi — but Busan would also mark the arrival of a teenager who would go on to become one of the biggest names in Indian tennis.
India finished the Games with four tennis medals — one gold, one silver and two bronze.
Paes and Bhupathi won gold in men’s doubles, Bhupathi and Manisha Malhotra took silver in mixed doubles, Vishal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse won men’s doubles bronze, and 15-year-old Sania Mirza won mixed doubles bronze alongside Paes.
For Indian tennis, Busan was a Games of two generations: the return of the famous Paes-Bhupathi partnership and the first Asian Games medal of Sania Mirza.
Busan 2002
The 14th Asian Games were held in Busan, South Korea, from September 29 to October 14, 2002.
Tennis was staged at the Geumjeong Tennis Stadium.
India’s four tennis medals were:
🥇 Leander Paes / Mahesh Bhupathi — Men’s Doubles
🥈 Mahesh Bhupathi / Manisha Malhotra — Mixed Doubles
🥉 Vishal Uppal / Mustafa Ghouse — Men’s Doubles
🥉 Leander Paes / Sania Mirza — Mixed Doubles
India did not win a medal in either singles event.
Lee-Hesh reunite — and win gold
The headline story of the men’s competition was the reunion of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
The pair had separated earlier in 2002 but reunited for the Asian Games. They were the top seeds in the men’s doubles draw.
Their campaign began with a commanding 6–0, 6–1 victory over Pakistan’s Rashid Malik and Aqeel Khan in the second round, taking them into the quarter-finals.
Paes and Bhupathi continued through the draw to reach the final, where they faced South Korea’s Lee Hyung-taik and Chung Hee-seok.
The final was one-sided.
The Indians won 6–2, 6–3 in 64 minutes, securing the men’s doubles gold.
For Bhupathi, it was his first Asian Games gold medal.
For Paes, it was his third Asian Games gold, following the two gold medals he had won at Hiroshima in 1994 — men’s team and men’s doubles.
The victory was also significant because Paes and Bhupathi had already established themselves as one of the world’s leading doubles partnerships. Before their 2002 split, they had won three Grand Slam doubles titles together.
Their reunion in Busan ended with another gold medal.
Bhupathi adds a silver
Bhupathi had another medal opportunity in mixed doubles, partnering Manisha Malhotra.
The Indian pair reached the final against Chinese Taipei’s Janet Lee and Lu Yen-hsun.
Bhupathi and Malhotra won the opening set 6–4, but their opponents fought back to take the second set 6–3.
The deciding set went deep. India led 4–2 and later had a match point in the 12th game, but could not close out the match.
Lee and Lu eventually won 4–6, 6–3, 9–7, leaving Bhupathi and Malhotra with silver.
Bhupathi therefore left Busan with two medals — gold in men’s doubles and silver in mixed doubles.
The 15-year-old who stepped onto the podium
But perhaps the most important moment for the future of Indian tennis came from a player who was not yet 16.
Sania Mirza was 15 years old.
Born on November 15, 1986, Mirza was still 15 when the Busan tennis competition took place in October 2002.
She partnered Leander Paes in mixed doubles.
The Indian pair were unseeded and faced the Japanese top seeds Shinobu Asagoe and Thomas Shimada in the opening round.
Instead of being overwhelmed, Paes and Mirza produced an upset, winning 6–3, 6–3.
The teenager held her own against the top seeds and impressed Paes with her returning and composure.
The victory took the Indian pair into the quarter-finals.
Paes and Sania fight their way to bronze
In the quarter-final, Paes and Mirza faced Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn and Vittaya Samrej.
The Indians lost the opening set 2–6, but recovered strongly to win the next two sets 6–2, 6–1.
That victory guaranteed them a medal.
In the semifinal, they faced Chinese Taipei’s Janet Lee and Lu Yen-hsun.
The Indian pair pushed their opponents hard but lost 7–6(4), 7–5.
As the losing semifinalists, Paes and Mirza received the bronze medal.
For Mirza, it was her first Asian Games medal.
She had arrived in Busan as a 15-year-old prospect.
She left as an Asian Games medallist.
The beginning of Sania’s Asian Games story
The importance of that bronze becomes even greater when viewed in hindsight.
Mirza would return to the Asian Games in 2006, winning three medals in Doha — gold in mixed doubles and silver in both singles and team competition.
She would add two more medals at Guangzhou 2010 and another two at Incheon 2014.
Her Asian Games career eventually produced eight medals: two gold, three silver and three bronze.
But the first one came in Busan.
And it came at just 15 years of age.
Vishal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse complete India’s haul
India’s fourth tennis medal came in men’s doubles.
Vishal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse reached the semifinals, where they lost to South Korea’s Kwon Oh-hee and Kim Dong-hyun.
As losing semifinalists, they received the bronze medal.
The men’s doubles podium therefore featured two Indian pairs — Paes/Bhupathi with gold and Uppal/Ghouse with bronze.
Four medals. Two generations.
Busan 2002 produced four Indian tennis medals:
🥇 Leander Paes / Mahesh Bhupathi — Men’s Doubles
🥈 Mahesh Bhupathi / Manisha Malhotra — Mixed Doubles
🥉 Vishal Uppal / Mustafa Ghouse — Men’s Doubles
🥉 Leander Paes / Sania Mirza — Mixed Doubles
It was a remarkable combination of the established and the emerging.
Paes and Bhupathi reunited and won gold.
Bhupathi added a mixed-doubles silver.
Uppal and Ghouse joined them on the men’s doubles podium.
And alongside them stood a 15-year-old Sania Mirza, winning the first Asian Games medal of a career that would eventually produce eight.
Busan was therefore more than another successful Asian Games for Indian tennis.
It was a bridge between generations.
🇮🇳 Asian Games Fact File
Edition: 14th Asian Games
Host: Busan, South Korea
Games: September 29 – October 14, 2002
Tennis venue: Geumjeong Tennis Stadium
Indian tennis medals: 4
Medal tally: 🥇 1 | 🥈 1 | 🥉 2
Indian Medallists
🥇 Leander Paes / Mahesh Bhupathi — Men’s Doubles
🥈 Mahesh Bhupathi / Manisha Malhotra — Mixed Doubles
🥉 Vishal Uppal / Mustafa Ghouse — Men’s Doubles
🥉 Leander Paes / Sania Mirza — Mixed Doubles
Sources
- Indian Olympic Association — Asian Games Busan 2002:
Indian Olympic Association — Busan 2002 - Times of India — Paes, Bhupathi win gold in men’s doubles:
Times of India — Paes, Bhupathi win gold - Telegraph India — Glimpses of old magic in tennis doubles gold:
Telegraph India — Busan tennis report - Telegraph India — Paes-Mirza sails through Round I:
Telegraph India — Paes-Mirza first-round upset - Times of India — Busan Asian Games results:
Times of India — Busan Asian Games results - Olympedia — Sania Mirza:
Olympedia — Sania Mirza profile and Asian Games medals - Olympedia — Mahesh Bhupathi:
Olympedia — Mahesh Bhupathi profile and Asian Games medals - Times of India — Paes-Bhupathi enter doubles quarters:
Times of India — Paes-Bhupathi quarter-final run - 2002 Asian Games — Men’s doubles results:
Tennis at the 2002 Asian Games — Men’s doubles - 2002 Asian Games — Mixed doubles results:
Tennis at the 2002 Asian Games — Mixed doubles