Asian Games 2023: India's Ramkumar Ramanathan & Saketh Myneni Settle For Silver After Men's Doubles Final Loss

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Hangzhou, September 29: India's Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan settled for a silver medal after straight sets loss to Chinese Taipei pair Yu-hsiou Hsu and Jason Jung in the men's doubles final in the ongoing Asian Games 2023 on Friday (September 29).

Saketh and Ramkumar went down 4-6 4-6 to the Chinese Taipei duo of Hsu and Jung in a hour and 12 minutes at the Tennis Court of Hangzhou Olympic Sports Expo Center in Hangzhou, China. This is India's first medal in tennis at the ongoing Hangzhou meet.

In the first set, the Indian dropped the serve when scores were tied 2-2, handing the Chinese Taipei duo the opening to seal the set 6-4 in 35 minutes.

In the second set, the Indian duo dropped their serve in the ninth game to hand the Chinese Taipei advantage heading into closing stages and they took the chance by clinching the gold medal with a 6-4 win in 37 minutes.

Earlier, Myeni and Ramanathan had defeated South Korea's Soonwoo Kwon and Seongchan Hong to advance to the final at Hangzhou. The second-seeded Indian pair defeated Soonwoo Kwon and Seongchan Hong 6-1, 7-6, 10-0 in the semifinal on Thursday (September 28).

Also, Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale assured India at least a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event following their straight-set victory over Kazakhstan pair of Zhibek Kulambayeva and Grigoriy Lomakin in the ongoing Asian Games.

The Indian pair defeated the Kazakhstan pair by 7-5, 6-3 to secure their spot in the semifinals. In the first set, Grigoriy and Zhibek gave a tough challenge to the Indian team as they fought hard for each point. They will be in semifinal action on Friday (September 29).

The Indian contingent has so far won 30 medals at the ongoing Asian Games, with eight gold, eleven silver and 12 bronze medals. The shooting contingent alone has added 17 medals so far. Tennis will bring another medal, but the colour will be known soon.