India number two Bhupathi is already in the mixed doubles semi-final with compatriot Nirupama Vaidyanathan while his singles mate Prahlad Srinath, who beat second seed Uzbek Vadim Kutsenko yesterday, will figure in the medal round tomorrow.

The Indian men's squad had won the team bronze earlier in the competition.Bhupathi, who had beaten Ogorodov in leading India to the Asia Cup triumph last month in Delhi, continued in the same vein today and humbled the top seed with his booming serves and blistering passing shots.

A confident Bhupathi began the proceedings with a bang, breaking Ogorodov in the fourth game with a great forehand passing winner and raced to a 3-1 lead.

The Indian, who with Leander Paes is ranked world No 2 in doubles, almost undid all the good workhe had done by going down 0-40 on his serve in the ninth game, before he saved four break points and won the set 6-3 in 38 minutes.

Temperamental Ogorodov trailed 0-40 on his serve in the opening game of the second set, but he clawed his way back into the match by saving three breakpoints.

Ogorodov found a chance to level when Bhupathi dropped his serve on the eighth. The crucial break provided by Bhupathi was all that the Uzbek needed to come back. He held his serve in the ninth game to win the second set 6-3 and level the duel one-set-all.

But Bhupathi was not done yet as the decider got off to an eventful start. The Indian was stretched to deuce four times, with Ogorodov enjoying advantage twice before Bhupathi held on.

MIXED DOUBLES LOSS: A visibly tired Mahesh Bhupathi and tentative Nirupama Vaidyanathan bowed out of gold medal contention, losing 4-6, 3-6 to South Korea's Kim Dong Hyun and Choi Ju Yeon in the semifinals of the mixed doubles tennis here today.

Billed the `golden pair',the top-seeded Indians now have to remain content with the bronze medal given to losing semifinalists.

Earlier, in the first semifinal, the Japanese pair of Satoshi Iwabuchi and Nana Miyagi overpowered China's Chn Li and Chn Li Feng 6-1, 7-5.

The way the match started, it looked as if Mahesh and Nirupama would emerge easy winners because Kim and Choi struggled to get their act together.However, the physically fit Kim took advantage of Mahesh's fatigue and took control of the game. He was ably supported by Choi.

Nirupama was not very steady and looked tentative throughout the 62-minute match.