Asian Games tennis: Ramkumar, Myneni in doubles final

Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan
Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan react after reaching the final. Photo: PTI/Shailendra Bhojak

Hangzhou: The Indian tennis camp had something to cheer on Thursday with Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni reaching the men's doubles gold medal round and the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale assuring itself of a medal.

The second-seeded team of Ramkumar and Myneni downed the gutsy Korean pair of Seongchan Hong and Soonwoo Kwon 6-1, 6-7(8) 10-0 to enter the final.

Myneni will now gun for his second Asian Games gold, having won a mixed doubles yellow metal with Sania Mirza in the 2014 edition.

It will be a maiden Games medal for Ramkumar.

The Koreans fought back after losing the opening set in a rather sedate manner but Myneni and Ramkumar held their nerve to outplay their rivals in the super tie-break.

The Indian team will now take on Chinese Taipei in the gold medal match on Friday.

India had won the men's doubles title in the last edition in Indonesia with Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan emerging victorious.

The second-seeded Bopanna-Bhosale pair moved into the mixed doubles semifinals with a fluent 7-5, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan's Zhibek Kulambayeva and Grigoriy Lomakin.

The first set seemed going into a tie-break as Kulambayeva was serving at 40-0 in the 12th game but she lost her serve from that strong position.

There was hardly any fight in the second set.

Bopanna, who is playing his last Asian Games at 43, will not go home without a medal.

He has already been ousted from the men's doubles with partner Yuki Bhambri.

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