Myneni in line for a golden double

Bronze for Yuki, Sania-Prarthana

Saketh Myneni lined himself for a potential double glory as the tennis contingent endured a day of mixed fortunes at the Asian Games here on Sunday.

After pairing up with Sanam Singh to power into the men’s doubles final with a tenacious 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 win over Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand, the 26-year-old wrapped up a perfect day in the office at Yeorumul Courts, teaming with Sania Mirza to march into the title round of mixed doubles, crushing China’s Ze Zhang and Jie Zheng 6-1, 6-3.

The day was, however, was extremely disappointing for Yuki Bhambri. Not in the best of form, he lost to Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in a match that promised plenty for the Delhiite. 

Yuki, with his morale seemingly down, then had to settle for a bronze in the men’s doubles too, joining forces with Divij Sharan to lose a cliffhanger 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 11-9 to South Korea’s Chung Hyeon and Lim Yongkyu. Sania also had to be contend with a bronze in the women’s doubles action, the ace pairing up with Prarthana Thombare and losing 7-6 (1), 2-6, 10-4 to Su Wei Hsieh and Chin Wei Chan of Chinese Taipei.

Yuki began brightly, attacking the net very frequently, and offsetting the free-hitting Nishioka with his volleys and sharp ground strokes. He earned a break in the fourth game before Nishioka hit back in the seventh as scores read 3-4. However, Yuki broke again in the next game itself before holding serve to go one set up.

Things then fell apart for Yuki as Nishioka found his range. The southpaw buried the Indian with his deep groundstrokes, finding some fine angles that made Yuki look very ordinary.

Yuki also struggled to hold his service game, managing to do it just once as Nishioka won the second set before kicking a few gears up in the decider. In quick time, he raced into a 5-0 lead, finishing the formalities when Yuki hit a shot long.
Results (prefix denotes seeding, all semifinals): Men’s singles: 5-Yoshihito Nishioka (Jpn) bt 4-Yuki Bhambri (Ind) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; 1-Lu Yen Hsun (Tpe) bt Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5). Men’s doubles: 5-Saketh Myneni/ Sanam Singh (Ind) bt Sanchai Ratiwatana/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (Tha) 4-6, 6-3, 10-6; 8-Chung Hyeon/ Lim Yongkyu (Kor) bt Yuki Bhambri/ Divij Sharan (Ind) 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 11-9.

Women’s doubles: 2-Su Wei Hsieh/ Chin Wei Chan (Tpe) bt Sania Mirza/ Prarthana Thombare (Ind) 7-6 (1), 2-6, 10-4; 7-Luksika Kumkhum/ Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Hao Ching Chan/  Yung Jan Chan (Tpe) 6-4, 6-4.

Mixed doubles: 2-Saketh Myneni/ Sania Mirza (Ind) bt 4-Ze Zhang/ Jie Zheng (Chn) 6-1, 6-3.