Asian Games: Nagal Loses QF, India's Tennis Campaign Ends Without Medal For First Time Since 1986

Asian Games: Nagal loses QF, Indias tennis campaign ends without medal for first time since 1986 (Bengaluru: Davis Cup Qualifiers Doubles Match)

Higashiyama Park Tennis Center: Sumit Nagal lost his men's singles quarterfinal to China's Wu Yibing in straight sets 4-6, 4-6 on Thursday at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center here.

Nagal's loss ended India's tennis campaign at the Asian Games as India went without a medal for the first time at the continental showpiece since 1986. Sumit could not avenge the loss he suffered against the Chinese at the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai tournament, where he suffered a round-of-128 defeat.

Nagal didn't land first serves well, with only 66% of those being legal. He won 62% of points from his first serve and 59% from the second serve but was broken three times in the match.

Before Nagal, Suresh Dhakshineswar also suffered a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Chinese Taipei's Tseng Chun-hsin in the round of 16 in the men's singles.

India also failed to bag a medal in the men's doubles for the first time since the 1998 Games. Star pairs of Yuki Bhambri-Dhakshineswar Suresh and Anirudh Chandrasekar-N Sriram Balaji also suffered quarterfinal defeats in the men's doubles.

Bhambri-Suresh lost their quarterfinal to Chinese Taipei's Ray Ho and Hsu Yu-hsiou, while Balaji-Anirudh went down to China's Jiang Fumin and Zhang Tianhui in a tie-break thriller.

Women's doubles pair of Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale lost in the first round to Kazakhstan's Anna Danilina and Yuliya Putintseva. Mixed doubles pairs also returned empty-handed as Yuki Bhambri and Rutuja Bhosale lost to Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Su-wei and Tseng Chun-hsin in the round of 16.

N Sriram Balaji and Ankita Raina also crashed out in the round of 32 to Hong Kong, China's Eudice Chong and Kairan Thompson.

India had won two medals in tennis at the Hangzhou Games 2023. Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja had won the gold medal in the mixed doubles event in the previous Asiad, while Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni won a silver in the men's doubles event in Hangzhou.

N Sriram Balaji and Ankita Raina also crashed out in the round of 32 to Hong Kong, China's Eudice Chong and Kairan Thompson.

Article Source: IANS