DANAI UDOMCHOKE is ecstatic after winning the final yesterday.

DOHA

Danai Udomchoke, the perpetual sidekick of his famous compatriot Paradorn Srichaphan, became an unlikely hero yesterday as he subdued title favourite Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea to become the new Asian Games tennis champion and collect Thailand's 13th gold medal in Doha.

The whole country sat glued to television sets last night, wishing for a miracle for the Thai No 2 player who was heading into the final as an underdog. Unfancied he was, judging by his sole victory in five meetings against the world No 49.

But when he forced the top seed to net a return on match point to wrap up the final 7-5 6-3, Thai fans as well as the spectators at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex got a whole new perception of the 104th-ranked player, who had always lived under the shadow of Paradorn.

The tremendous triumph will surely earn Danai, 25, wider recognition in the Kingdom and from tennis enthusiasts across Asia as the new tennis star of the continent.

"I came into the match with little confidence because he is better in terms of experience and ranking," said the 25-year-old in his third straight Asian Games since 1998. "I am so happy because I was representing Thailand and that's special, it means a lot."

Danai accomplished a mission that his team-mates Paradorn and the Ratiwatana twins couldn't in the Games. Paradorn, as the defending champion, withdrew during the team competition last week with an injury, while Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana, despite having seven match points, bitterly lost in the men's doubles final to Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India the day before.

Danai's victory means Thailand have won one tennis gold medal in each of the last three Games (Bangkok, Busan and Doha). Paradorn won this event four years ago in South Korea by beating Lee.

"Before the Asian Games, I was just hoping for the bronze. I'm a little surprised to beat Lee because he is the Asian No 1 and I played him only a few weeks ago and lost," added Danai, who also won the men's team bronze last week.

Lee had to return home heart-broken again after losing in back-to-back finals in the Games. He claimed he had caught a cold after his semi-final match, which affected his performance.

"I caught a cold and I thought maybe I could not play but I did my best," said the South Korean, who still had the men's team gold to cheer himself up with.

Team Korea decided against using cough medicine to fight Lee's fever, fearing a breach of doping regulations, a move that saw him instead take to the court with tiny medical patches stuck to his arms and legs.

"I lost a lot of strength from the fever, and somebody told me they [patches] would work, but I don't think they did," he said.

Wearing a yellow shirt, the colour that is associated with His Majesty the King, Danai was not intimidated by the fierce forehand of Lee, trading a series of long exciting baseline rallies to force errors from his high-profile opponent time and time again.

The two baseliners were solid in their games as they held nine games in a row with the Thai leading at 5-4. Then Lee, showing his first sign of nerves, buried a backhand into the net to confront a set point but refused to give up by slamming splendid serves for five all.

Danai set up his second set point with a superb backhand passing shot winner at 6-5. He had a nail-biting net duel with Lee on the next point before taking the set with a brilliant volley. The Thai extended his top form into the second set. In contrast, errors crept crawling into the South Korean's game. As Lee's weak backhand found the net, Danai had triple break points at 2-1 and 40-0 and capitalised it with one of his unanswered passes.

After serving a love game to win the match, he kneeled on the court and buried his face in his hands in disbelief.

Earlier, China's Zheng Jie and Yan Zi took gold in the women's doubles in straight sets, sounding a warning to their rivals ahead of their Australian Open defence next month.

The top seeds were pushed hard in the second set by Taiwan's Chan Yung Jan and Chuang Chia Jung before downing the fourth seeds 6-1 7-6 (7/5).

The win caps a sensational year for the pair who have clinched six doubles titles including Wimbledon and the Australian Open.Zheng also won gold in the women's singles on Wednesday, taking China's tally to two in tennis here after failing to win any at the last Games.

Yan said they fancied their chances at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, and would now return to China to prepare. "We hope we can do better next year," said the 22-year-old.