B D NarayankarINDIA's Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles gatecrashed into their first Grand Slam Australian Open doubles final on Thursday.
The third-seeded Bhupathi and Knowles trounced Polish Lukasz Kubot and Austrian Oliver Marachm 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes
The Indo-Bahamian pair will play American No 2 seeds and two-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan, who in a repeat of the 2007 US Open final stopped Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy from winning their first Grand Slam together.
Leander Paes' campaign in the mixed doubles had ended in the second round itself.
In the boys singles, top seed Yuki Bhambri overcame a late fightback from German Richard Becker 6-1, 7-5 to move into the semi-final in an hour and 12 minutes.
Yuki, who reached the semi-final in the last edition here, will play seventh seed Adrien Puget of France who beat Mikhal Biryukov of Russia 6-4, 6-2.
If Bhupathi clinches the Australian Open men's doubles title, he will win all four Grand Slams. He has a 4-3 record in Grand Slam finals, winning in 1999 and 2001 at Roland Garros, in 1999 at Wimbledon and in 2002 at the US Open.
Knowles won the Australian Open title in 2002 with long-time partner Daniel Nestor, with whom he also reached the final in 1995 and 2003. In addition to his win in Australia, he won the title in 2004 at the US Open and at Roland Garros in 2007.
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