HANGZHOU: Tennis players Rohan Bopanna and Ankita Raina will lead the Indian tennis team for the Asian Games 2023 to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.
According to Olympics.com, Saketh Myneni is also part of the team, who had won a mixed doubles gold medal with Sania Mirza at the 2014 Asian Games.
Sania Mirza, who earlier this year announced her retirement from competitive tennis, would not be competing for India. She competed in a variety of events and won eight medals at the Asian Games, including two gold, three silver, and three bronze.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran is suffering from injury, will also not participate in the event. He had clinched bronze in the men’s singles at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
In the WTA rankings, Ankita Raina is ranked 206th, 28 places ahead of Karman Kaur Thandi, who was also selected for the Asian Games. At No. 149 in the world, Raina is the highest-ranked woman’s doubles player from India.
Veteran Rohan Bopanna will lead the men’s team. The Indian tennis ace entered the top 10 in the ATP rankings for doubles last month for the first time since June 2016 and has won two ATP titles this year.
Rohan Bopanna won the gold medal in men’s doubles at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. His partner Divij Sharan, however, is not in the Indian squad for this edition.
Sumit Nagal will spearhead India’s challenge in singles. At world No. 226, he is the top-ranked Indian singles tennis player. Yuki Bhambri, the bronze medallist from the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, and Ramkumar Ramanathan have also been selected.
At the last edition of the Asian Games, India returned with one gold medal and two bronze. The tennis events at the upcoming Asian Games will be held from September 24 to September 30.
Men’s team: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni, Mukund Sasikumar, Ramkumar Ramanathan; non-playing captain: Rohit Rajpal
Women’s team: Rutuja Bhosle, Ankita Raina, Karman Kaur Thandi, Prarthana Thombare, Vaidehi Chaudhari, Sahaja Yamlapalli; non-playing captain: Ankita Bhambri. (ANI)