Rory McIlroy believes he is still in with a chance of defending his Dubai Desert Classic title after a strong finish to his second round. The world No 2 looked in danger of an early exit when three bogeys in a four-hole stretch around the turn left him below the projected cut line, before he finished strongly with a hat-trick of birdies to close with a level-par 72.McIlroy heads into the weekend six strokes adrift of midway pacesetter Rafa Cabrera-Bello and the Northern Irishman admitted he had to dig deep to stay in contention. Rory McIlroy was three over for the day when he reached the turn I didnt have my best stuff with me, McIlroy told Sky Sports. I struggled at the start of the round and around the middle, so needed something first and foremost just to be here for the weekend.I felt like I played some decent golf out there. A couple of tentative putts, couple of loose shots, but all in all a decent finish and if I can get off to a better start tomorrow then you never know.Having recovered from a slow start on Thursday to post a decent first round, McIlroy carded an opening-hole blemish for the second day running after finding the bunker with his approach to the par-four. McIlroy the Dubai king? A look back at McIlroys Dubai wins McIlroy bounced back from a three-putt bogey at the fourth to sink a 15-footer at the next, but lost further ground when he failed to get up and down from just off the eighth green.A missed par save from seven feet completed a front-nine 38, before McIlroy dropped back to level par for the week with another three-putt at the 11th.After saving par from five feet at the next, the 26-year-old found the par-five 13th green in two and two-putted for the first of four birdies along the closing holes. McIlroy claimed a three-shot win at the Emirates GC last year The four-time major champion followed a close-range birdie at the 16th by nearly reaching the green off the tee at the par-four next to move another stroke closer to the lead, before finishing his round in style by holing a 20-footer at the last.I missed a few short putts and wasnt really committing to the lines that I was picking, McIlroy added. Birdieing the last three holes definitely gives me a little bit of momentum heading into the weekend. In a way Im thankful that Im not out as one of the last pairings tomorrow, because I feel that Ill get some of the better conditions and the course will be a little more receptive.Watch the Dubai Desert Classic throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Third round coverage gets underway live on Saturday from 9am. Also See: WATCH: McIlroys future win? First round highlights Desert Classic leaderboard Golf live on Sky Sports 4 Air Max 90 Essential White . 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Rio -- You wont be popular back in India today.Rajeev Ram shrugs and smiles at this journalists attempt to inject some humour in the post-match media interaction. In 1981, Rajeevs parents left India to pursue the American dream. He was born three years later in Denver, Colorado. His father Raghav is a biologist and mother Sushma a scientific technician.But since the age of four, Rajeev was not interested in an academic career. His heroes were Boris Becker and Pete Sampras. Rajeev wanted to be a tennis player and pursued his dream with vigour, embarking on a a path as a professional in 2004.In this 12-year pursuit, Rajeev has won singles and doubles titles on the ATP tour and has reached as far as the semifinals at a couple of Grand Slam events. But now, Rajeev is one step away from an Olympic gold medal.In 2009, Rajeev won his first title on the ATP tour by clinching the doubles crown at the Chennai Open. Now, this, the greatest moment of his career, has come by by subduing a pair from the country his parents left behind.I have visited India since I was a kid, he says. I have lots of family there and I am proud of my heritage. My dads whole family is in India so I have lots of ties back home.It is my first Olympics. You never know if you are going to get to play another one or not. To play a match and secure a medal for sure is an unbelievable feeling.This is our third match together, but Venus and I didnt even know if we were going to be in the tournament to start with. We played a great team today, we played two people that I respect a lot and are good friends of mine. We went out there and we played well when it mattered.Rajeevs succinct assessment of their performance stands up to scrutiny. Having been blown away in under an hour in the first set, the Americans needed to respond urgently to ensure the match was not reduced to a no-contest.While Rajeev was solid on his service games in the first set, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna made repeated dents into Venus Williams serve, breaking her twice. Sania in particular played an attractive brand of tennis, pulverising the ball in her signature style but also catching the Americans off-guard with some canny lobs.It was in the second set that Venus, a winner of four Olympic Gold medals over her decorated career including three in womens doubles, ignited her inner mongrel.With an effervescent Indian crowd scenting the end of the medal drought at these Games, the older Williams sister started to discover the verve in her game. Her grunts gained ferocity and her power game built sustained pressure on the Indianss.dddddddddddd With Sanias serve broken after a long sequence of deuce and advantage points, the Americans began hooping around the court energetically.Rajeev kept his end of the bargain up by locking out the Indians from any opportunities to break his serve. His fluid single hander backhand was in fine working fettle on the night and provided some sparkling moments with passes past desperate racquets.Venus, too, had transformed by this time into the player who owns seven singles and sixteen Grand Slam doubles titles. The set was pocketed and going into the super tie break, the momentum had shifted decisively away from the Indian pairing.Sania and Bopanna did take a 3-1 lead but Venus was not about to falter on the home stretch. She creamed a clean winner off the forehand flank and followed up with an assured overhead to level the scores.In the stadium, the Indian cheering squad had fallen eerily silent with a lone voice shrieking, Come on. Sania conceded both points on her serve and soon a four-point gap opened up. Bopanna dumped an overhead into the net at 7-3, leaving only the final nail in the coffin to be slammed in.Soon enough, the job was completed and Venus erupted in squeals of delight. In an instant, Rajeev had gone from a journeyman on the circuit to a potential Olympic champion.When you can beat a big team at their best, it is a huge mental lift for us to know that we can do it against anybody, he said. We didnt panic, we didnt feel like we had to do a whole lot different to try and win. We had to do a few things, like try different formations but we believed in ourselves no matter what the score was.Gold and silver may have slipped away, but for Sania and Bopanna, Sunday provides an opportunity to join Leander Paes as Indias only Olympic tennis medalists. It will be a quick turnaround with the match against Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka scheduled to begin on midday local time in Rio.The 37-year-old Stepanek is a top class doubles player, having won 18 tour titles including an Australian and a US Open. Hradecka, 31, won the womens doubles silver at the 2012 London Olympics and also won the French Open mixed-doubles title in 2013. For both teams, the challenge will be to pick themselves up after a crushing defeat and combat for a place on the podium.This is something new for us, we dont have this on the tennis circuit, a visibly downcast Bopanna said later. We have to rest, prepare well and come back positively. ' ' '