Ramkumar-Myneni pair takes silver Bopanna-Bhosale in mixed doubles final

HANGZHOU: Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni settled for the men's doubles silver medal at the Asian Games after being edged by Chinese Taipei's Hsu Yu-Hsiou and Jason Jung but India's hopes of winning a gold from the tennis courts is still alive with the mixed team reaching the title clash, in Hangzhou on Friday.

The Taipei team was unseeded but both Hsu (182) and Jung (231) were better-ranked singles players and it showed in their ground strokes and the way they went about their business in a 6-4 6-4 victory against the second-seeded Indians in the title clash.

Hsu was solid from the baseline with his strong serve, while Jung complimented him with his lightning fast hands at the net.

It is Ramkumar's first Asian Games medal and third for Myneni, who had won a men's doubles silver with Sanam Singh and a gold with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles in the 2014 Incheon edition.

"It is my first Asian Games medal, I always wanted to win a medal for India. It was one of my goals and that too coming with Saki (Saketh), very happy about it," Ramanathan said.

"We tried our best every match, every single point and extremely happy that we could finish with a silver.

"Asian Games is huge and obviously, it's a huge thing to win a medal. But every tournament for us is as huge as the Asian Games. This is a profession, we do this for a living, and we enjoy what we do. Hopefully, we can get more medals for the country the next time," added Ramkumar, who has endured a tough 2023 season.

The duo of Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale outplayed the Chinese Taipei combine of Chan Hao-ching and Yu-Hsiou Hsu 6-1, 3-6, 10-4 in the mixed double semifinal. Agencies

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