Somdev, Sania in singles final; Lee-Hesh beaten

Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza will carry India's gold medal hopes in the tennis event of the Commonwealth Games as both progressed to the singles final even as the star pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bit the dust in a big upset on Friday.

Out of 15 medals on offer, India are assured of three, including two silver.

India's overall medal tally can go up to a maximum of four, which will be a disappointing show considering the tennis event got a depleted field due to the pull-outs of several star players.

Powerhouse Australia dominated the debut year of the sport in the Games. Their players will compete for gold medals in at least four of the five events.

Indian fans had hardly recovered from the shock defeat of Paes and Sania in the mixed doubles quarter-finals on Thursday when top seeds Paes and Bhupathi joined the casualty list after a 2-6, 2-6 defeat to Australia's Paul Hanley and Peter Luczak.

They will now play the bronze medal play-off against second seeds, Somdev and Rohan Bopanna, who went down fighting 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 against the British pair of Ross Hutchins and Ken Skupski in the other semi-final.

The two Indian pairs were expected to play for the gold medal, which would have ensured a 1-2 finish for hosts in men's doubles.

Early in the morning, Somdev and Sania ensured India will win at least two silver medals.

Somdev, ranked 97th, outplayed third seed and Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-1 while second seed Sania had to overcome some demons of her own before prevailing 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Australia's sixth seed Olivia Rogowska.

Somdev will battle it out for the gold medal with Australia's fifth seed Greg Jones, who upset his compatriot and second seed Peter Luczak 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the other semi-final.

"It feels great. Matt's a great player. Once I got into groove, I made it tough for him. It's huge. Today was one of my bigger days. It's a guaranteed medal for the country. I'am very happy with this win," Somdev said.

Sania will lock horns with the winner of the second semi-final between Australian top seed Anastasia Rodionova and her compatriot and fourth seed Sally Peers.

Watched by her husband Shoaib Malik and egged on by a boisterous 2000-strong home crowd, Sania erased an opening set deficit to pull off win after striving for one hour and 55 minutes at the Centre Court of the R K Khanna Tennis stadium.