Asian Games: Ankita, Rutuja, Ramkumar reach pre-quarterfinals stage in tennis singles’ competition

Ankita Raina, Rutuja Bhosale and Ramkumar Ramanathan reached the pre-quarterfinals stage on the ongoing Asian Games

Hangzhou: It was a great day at work for Indian singles tennis players as Ankita Raina, Rutuja Bhosale and Ramkumar Ramanathan reached the pre-quarterfinals stage on the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday.

In her round of 32 match, Ankita defeated Uzbekistan’s Sabrina Olimjonova by 6-0, 6-0 in two straight sets in a matter of 51 minutes. She captured both the sets in less than 30 minutes.

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In her match Rutuja Bhosale beat Kazakhstan’s Aruzhan Sagandykova by 7-6 (2), 6-2. The first set involved a tiebreaker but the second set was extremely one-sided. The first set lasted for 76 minutes, while the second ended in 45 minutes, giving the match a total duration of a little over two hours.

Ramkumar was given a walkover by his opponent Sunatullo Isroilov of Tajikistan as he was unable to compete.

Earlier, Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal started his 19th Asian Games men’s singles campaign in style as he defeated Macao China’s Ho Tin Marco 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets on Sunday. Nagal had received a bye in the first round.

The Indian played a flawless game as he thrashed Marco without losing a game. This triumph was not just a personal accomplishment for Nagal, but also a proud moment for India, reinforcing the country’s presence in the Asian tennis arena.

To this point, Nagal has accomplished a number of noteworthy feats. He and his Vietnamese partner Ly Hoang Nam won the Wimbledon boys’ doubles title in 2015, making him the sixth Indian player to win a junior Grand Slam title. At the US Open in 2019, he competed in his first grand slam main draw match, where he faced Roger Federer in his opening round match.

Also, the Indian men’s doubles duo Saketh Myneni and Ramanathan Ramkumar have progressed to pre-quarter-finals at the Asian Games after registering a dominating straight-set win over Nepal’s Bastola Abhishek and Khadka Pradip on Sunday.

Saketh-Ramanathan defeated Nepal by 6-2, 6-3 in just 57 minutes.

The Indian tennis team started their campaign on September 24 and tennis events will be played till September 30. In the history of the Asian Games, India has secured 32 medals in tennis, nine gold medals, six silver medals and 17 bronze medals.