HE didn't do the unthinkable. He didn't beat Andre Agassi at Atlanta. But Leander Paes had enough gas in his tanks to put it across Fernando Meligini of Brazil to win the bronze for India 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, the nation's first individual event medal since 1948 when K.D. Jadhav won a wrestling bronze. And in so doing perhaps broke the jinx that marked him as a perennial aberration in the bio-rhythm of the ATP rankings. Had the dusky chip-and-charge player from Calcutta cashed in on the two set points he had against Agassi in the first set of his semi-finals, when he was leading 6-5, Atlanta might have been on the road to witness another of his famous upsets. But for 127-ranked Leander, reaching the semis itself was reason enough for the nation to be proud of. That he won bronze in the semi-final playoff was a bonus for 950 million Indians who for nearly two weeks saw the systematic demolition of all their medal hopes, principal amongst them being the poor showing of the hockey squad.