Rediff

Qatar, Jan 6: Leander Paes and Martin Damm thwarted a spirited fightback from Mark Knowels of the Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada to storm into the final of the US $1 million Qatar Open in Doha on Friday.

Paes and Damm beat the second seeds 7-5, 6-7(6), 10-2.

In the final, the third seeded Indo-Czech pair will play Russia's Mikhail Youzhny and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia, who registered a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win over the English pair of Andy and Jamie Murray in the other semi-final.

With top seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi already out in the first round, Paes and Damm are looking to lift the trophy and kick-start the season.

This is the second occasion that Paes and Damm beat Knowles and Nestor. Their previous success was in the quarter-finals at Cincinnati last year; it also finished in a tie-breaker.

Paes and Damm, the reigning US Open champions, won two titles in 2006, including the Grand Slam.

Paes is looking for his 37th career doubles title.