Discover how Indian tennis stars Dhakshineswar Suresh and Sumit Nagal delivered strong performances at the Asian Games, securing crucial wins in singles and doubles events despite challenging conditions.
Key Points
- Dhakshineswar Suresh secured two victories, advancing in men's singles and men's doubles with Yuki Bhambri.
- Top-ranked Indian Sumit Nagal progressed to the men's singles pre-quarterfinals after a challenging, rain-interrupted match.
- N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar also made a winning start in men's doubles.
- India experienced an early exit in mixed doubles with Balaji and Ankita Raina losing their match.
- Indian coach Ashutosh Singh highlighted the challenging conditions and praised players' adaptability.
Dhakshineswar Suresh recorded two wins in a productive day for India at the Asian Games, advancing to the men's singles pre-quarterfinals before combining with Yuki Bhambri to reach the doubles quarterfinals, while top-ranked Indian Sumit Nagal also progressed to the last 16 here Tuesday.
Indian Players' Strong Showing
Dhakshineswar first overcame Indonesia's Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5 7-6(2) in the singles second round before returning to the court with Yuki to beat Kazakhstan's Beibit Zhukayev and Denis Yevseyev 6-1 7-5 in the men's doubles.
Nagal, meanwhile, put behind his disappointing Davis Cup outing in Seoul by beating Korea's Seongchan Hong 6-4 6-0 in the second round to set up a pre-quarterfinal against Uzbekistan's Sergey Fomin.
N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar also made a winning start in the men's doubles, defeating Nepal's Abhishek Bastola and Pradip Khadka 6-2 6-1 in their opening round.
Mixed Results And Challenging Conditions
It was not an entirely successful day for India, though, as Balaji and Ankita Raina suffered an early exit from the mixed doubles event, losing 4-6 4-6 to Hong Kong's Eudice Chong and Kairan Thompson in the last match of the day for the country.
Dhakshineswar, who received a bye in the opening round, held his nerve in a closely fought singles contest against Trismuwantara, despite the huge ranking difference between the two players.
The Indian is ranked 364th, while the Indonesian is outside the top 2000.
Nagal's match against Hong was completed only on Tuesday after rain interrupted play on Monday.
The contest lasted three hours and four minutes across two days, with the Indian eventually closing it out in straight sets.
Once Nagal broke Hong in the 10th game to pocket the opening set, he did not look back.
"Today was a challenging day for both players, with the weather causing a start-stop match and the shift from outdoor to indoor courts, match started yesterday, finished today," India coach Ashutosh Singh told PTI.
"With four courts running side by side and a lot happening around the competition area, it wasn't an easy environment, although the organisers are doing their best.
"Sumit took a little time to settle in, but once he found his rhythm and took control, he played really well, especially when he was ahead. Pro players have to adjust to the conditions and circumstances in front of them," Singh added.
