Asian Games: Bopanna-Bhosale reach mixed doubles final, assured of medal

Hangzhou [China], September 29 : The Indian ace 43 year old Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale secure their spot in the mixed doubles final event and also assured a medal with a 6-1, 3-6, [10-4] victory over Chinese Taipei in the semifinal at the ongoing 19th Asian Games on Friday.

The dynamic pair of Bopanna and Bhosale won the first set 6-1 against Chinese Taipei's Yu-hsiou Hsu and Hao-ching Chang.

𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 #AsianGames2022! 🇮🇳

Our dynamic Mixed Doubles pair, @RutujaBhosale12, and @rohanbopanna proceeded to the finals after an electrifying semifinal!👏

Let's cheer out loud for them and wish them the very best for the FINALS🌟👍🏻#Cheer4India… pic.twitter.com/c0QC1Glh09

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 29, 2023

However, in the second set India pair lost control and faced some stiff competition as the Taipei duo took the second set to send the semifinal contest into a winner-takes-all super-tiebreaker, which meant that the first pair to score 10 points will advance to the summit clash match. 

The Indian pair prevailed in the tie breaker winning 10-4 to storm into the final and assuring themselves of a medal. The veteran Rohan Bopanna making up for his disappointing first-round exit in the men's doubles event.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and Bhosale, who advanced into the gold medal match, will take on another Taipei pair in the form of Tsung-hao Huang and En-shuo Liang in the final on Saturday.

In the quarterfinals, the Indian duo had defeated Grigoriy Lomakin and Zhibek Kulambayeva of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday.

Earlier in the men's doubles gold medal match, the Indian pair of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan won silver after suffering a 4-6 4-6 defeat against the Chinese Taipei duo of Yu-hsiou Hsu and Jason Jung.

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