Palembang: Top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan breezed into the men’s doubles quarterfinals while Ankita Raina entered the last eight of the women’s singles at the Asian Games here Tuesday. Raina, ranked 189, overpowered World No.243 Eri Hozumi 6-1, 6-2 in a round of 16 clash.
Compatriot Karman Kaur Thandi, however, was disappointed after losing to lower-ranked En-Shuo Liang of Chinese Taipei. The world number 196 lost a close match against the 278th ranked Liang, going down 6-2, 4-6, 6-7 (4) in the pre-quarterfinals.
Thandi also lost a close mixed doubles match alongside the experienced Sharan. The Indians bounced back losing the first set before going down in the super tie-break. The eventual scoreline read 4-6, 6-3, 5-10.
Howevers, India had a good day in the men’s doubles as both its pairings reached the quarterfinals. Bopanna and Sharan sailed past Thailand’s Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul and Nuttanon Kadchapanan 6-3 6-1 in another round of 16 match.
Ramakumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal, who both are singles specialists and were told to pair up at the eleventh hour, put up a spirited show to outlast Taipei’s fourth seeds Chen Ti and Peng Hsienyin 7-6 (5) 7-6 (2).
Bopanna and Raina are the sole Indian pair left in the mixed doubles draw after the exit of Thandi and Sharan. The fourth seeds had a tough match against South Korea’s Kim Nari and Lee Jeamoon before prevailing 6-3 2-6 11-9.
