New Delhi, Delhi, India

Indian Tennis players Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna notched up a hard fought win in the doubles contest to keep India's chances alive in their Davis Cup Asia/Ocenia Group I tie against China on Saturday.

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44-year-old Paes and Bopanna downed a fighting Chinese pair of Mo Xin Gong and Ze Zhang 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in the do-or-die doubles. 

With this win, Paes becomes the most successful player in the history of the tennis competition.

Paes was tied on 42 wins with Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli for a long time, but the Kolkata born star finally surpassed him with his 43rd victory.

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In the first set, Paes' service was broken in the 11th game after the two pairs were tied at 5-5.

The Indians got more break opportunities than the hosts but struggled to kill it off.

The Indians broke Gong in the third game for a 2-1 lead and then held on.

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In the decider, Paes and Bopanna frittered away a 3-1 lead by losing three games in a row to trail 3-4. 

Paes came out to serve at 5-6 and went down 0-30 but the veteran used all his experience to pull off the crucial hold to force another tie-breaker.

In the tie-breaker, the two players used all their experience to roll over the lower-ranked Chinese and pull off the triumph.

The Indian youngsters will now have to win both the reverse singles to advance to the World Group Play-offs.