Asian Games: Sania Mirza Assured of Silver in Mixed Doubles
Sania Mirza had earlier settled for bronze in the women's doubles in tennis at the Asian Games.
Saketh Myneni got himself in line for two gold medals by reaching the finals of both men's doubles and mixed doubles events even as other Indian tennis players, including Sania Mirza, clinched three bronze at the Asian Games. (Medal Tally | Day 9 Blog)
Saketh and Sanam Singh overcame experienced Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana 4-6 6-3 10-6 in the men's doubles semifinals, which lasted 67 minutes.
Later in the day, the big-serving Myneni combined with seasoned doubles exponent Sania to reach the mixed doubles summit clash with a convincing 6-1 6-3 win over Chinese pair of Zie Zheng and Ze Zhang. (What do you think of Sania's performance so far? Is she performing to her potential? Fans have been writing to us, you can too)
The result meant that the 28-year-old will have a chance to win two gold medals in his maiden Asian Games appearance. Chandigarh lad Sanam now has the opportunity to win his second consecutive Games gold, having won the yellow metal with Somdev Devvarman at the 2010 edition.
Earlier, Sania and Prarthana Thombare settled for a bronze, losing the women's doubles semifinal 6-7 (1) 6-2 10-4 to Chinese Taipei's Chin Wei Chan and Su Wei Hsieh. The fifth seeded Indian combo put up a brave fight before going down in an hour and 35 minutes. It was seventh Asian Games medal for Sania and first for Prarthana.
Yuki Bhambri clinched India's lone singles' medal in this edition, after settling for a bronze in the men's event following a 6-3 2-6 1-6 loss to Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in the semifinal. Yuki won another bronze medal for India when he and Divij Sharan, seeded fourth, lost 7-6 (6) 6-7 (6) 9-11 to Korean pair of Lim Yongkyu and Chung Hyeonas. (Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt Wins Historic Gold)
Their defeat prevented an all-Indian final and now it will be the eighth seeded Koreans who will challenge Sanam and Myneni for the gold. Nevertheless, in the absence of star players, Indian youngsters have so far put up a commendable show. Somdev, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna pulled out of the quadrennial event to take care of their rankings on the professional circuit. Sania decided to play here, after initially deciding to play on the WTA circuit.