Lee-Hesh through to Houston semis

The second-seeded Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi made the semi-finals of the $350,000 US Claycourt Championships being played at Houston.

The Indians got past the unseeded South African pair of Jeff Coetzee/Brent Haygarth 7-5, 6-1 in the quarters, and will now face Paul MacPherson/Grant Stafford in the semi-finals, to be played on Saturday.

The Paul Macpherson/Grant Stafford duo defeated James Blake/Thomas Blake 7-5, 6-3 in the quarter-final.

Paul Macpherson and Grant Stafford are currently ranked 21 on the ATP doubles listing, and have won one title this year -- the Adelaide Open, where they beat top seeds Wayne Arthurs/Todd Woodbridge.

This is the third straight semis for the Indians in three weeks, as the once world-top ranked pair seek to recapture lost glory. They started with a semi-final defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters at the hands of the top seeded Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge; then won the Verizon Atlanta Challenge last week, defeating top seeds Rick Leach and D.MacPherson.