India had a mixed day in soft tennis competition at the Asian Games with two players -- Raga Sri Manogarbabu Kulandaivelu and Jay Meena -- advancing to the quarterfinals from the group stage here on Friday.
In women's singles group F match, Raga Sri Manogarbabu Kulandaivelu defeated Mengchoung Ki of Cambodia 4-1 (6-4, 4-2, 2-4, 4-1) before beating Vietnam's Thi Mai Huong Nguyen 4-0 (6-4, 4-2, 5-3, 4-2) to advance to the last 8.
In men's singles preliminary round in Group A, Jay Meena defeated Taiwan's Yu Hsun Chen 4-2 (8-6, 0-4, 5-3, 4-1, 1-4, 6-4) and in the second match, he outwitted Indonesia's Mario Harley Alibasa 4-1 (4-1, 7-5, 1-4, 4-2, 4-1) to book his place in the quarterfinals.
In the women's singles preliminary round, India's Aadhya Tiwari, however, lost to Taiwan's Shu Ting Lo 1-4 (0-2, 0-4, 4-1, 0-4, 2-4) in just 23 minutes. She later lost to South Korea's Minseon Lee 0-4 (1-4, 0-4, 1-4, 2-4) in just 10 minutes.
Another Indian player Aniket Chirag Patel lost to Philippine's Adjuthor Ii Moralde 0-4 (1-4, 0-4, 0-4, 3-5) in 16 minutes, while in the second match he defeated Vietnam's Nhat Quang Nguyen by 4-0 (4-0, 4-2, 4-2, 4-2) in 11 minutes.
Both men and women players will play their respective semifinals on Saturday at the Hangzhou Olympic Tennis Centre. India has never been able to make a podium finish in the sport at the Asian Games.
Soft tennis is a shorter version of lawn tennis, which is generally played using rubber balls. A set in the sport ends at the fourth point, while there needs to be a gap of two points to win the set. For the final set, the game ends at the seventh point. The contests are decided through the best-of-seven or best-of-nine sets.
Published 06 October 2023, 16:30 IST