IANS
INCHEON, SEPTEMBER 29
INDIAN tennis player Saketh Myneni completed a memorable Asian Games campaign for the country bagging two medals -- a mixed doubles gold - partnering Sania Mirza - after winning the men’s doubles silver with Sanam Singh -- at the Yeorumul Tennis Courts here Monday.
Sania and Myneni, seeded second, defeated top seeded Chinese Taipei duo of Hsien Yin Peng and Hao Ching Chan in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) in 44 minutes.
The Indian pair started positively and broke their opponents in the fourth game to win the first set 6-4. They carried forward the momentum and broke in the first game of the second set to intensify the pressure. They went ahead 4-3 and secured the match, winning the next two games.
It was Sania’s third consecutive Games mixed doubles final appearance, having won gold in 2006 with Leander Paes and silver with Vishnu Vardhan in 2010.
Earlier in the day, the men’s doubles team of Sanam and Saketh won silver, losing their gold medal match to South Korea’s Yongkyu Lim and Hyeon Chung 5-7, 6-7 (2-7) in one hour and 29 minutes.
The fifth-seeded Indian pair fought valiantly, matching their opponents in every shot. But inexperience proved to be their bane, losing the crucial points to concede defeat. The Indians started the match dominantly, not allowing their opponents any loose points. They held on to their serves and pushed the match to 5-5, but lost composure at the most crucial juncture, conceding a service break to hand over the first set 5-7 in 40 minutes.
It was always going to be difficult for the Indians to make a comeback into the match after losing the first set but they managed to do that impressively. They soaked all pressure to force a tie-breaker, but ran out of steam at the crucial moment, allowing the hosts to get a substantial lead, eventually succumbing 6-7 in 49 minutes.
