Sania Mirza and leander Paes won gold medal in Mixed Doubles Tennis Final in 15th Asian Games held at Doha, Qatar.

Earlier in the day Sania Mirza lost to Chinees player in women's single final. After that she played mixed doubles with Leander Paes and won gold medal for India.

After winning the men's doubles final with Mahesh Bhupathi earlier in the day, Paes returned to the courts with Mirza in front of a partisan crowd and the Indian pair defeated Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami from Japan in a thrilling three set match 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.

After playing in three finals, Mirza was relieved to walk off court with a gold medal and said:-

"I'm excited. It's very emotional to win a gold medal for my country. I'm just relieved to win the gold, and now I'm all wired up. After the singles I was very tired, but I finally won a gold medal after three finals.

I struggled with my serve, but it was a long day and a long week. But I came through and won the gold medal."

Sania Mirza is expected to take home USD90,000 simply for the assurance that she will participate in the WTA Tour event which is scheduled in Bangalore next month. It is estimated that Paes will pocket up to $50,000 for his appearance in Doha, where he is playing this week. Incidentally, Sania Mirza’s marketability shot up after her fine showing at the Doha Asian Games last month. [source dnaindia.com]