Asian Games tennis; Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh win gold in the doubles event
The Indian tennis pair of Sanam Singh and Somdev Devvarman captured the sixth gold for their country in the men’s doubles contest of the 2010 Asian Games after getting the better of sixth seed duo of Li Zhe and Gong Maoxin from
China in a three setter final on Monday. The score line was 6-3, 6-7, 10-8.
Earlier in the day Somdev also registered his name as the first Indian player to make his way into the men’s singles final in the history of the Asian Games before capturing the men's doubles gold along with Sanam Singh. He won
the semi final round after beating Japanese Tatsuma Ito in three sets. The final match score was 6-2, 0-6, and 6-3.
Vishnu Vardhan and Sania Mirza, on the other hand, had to settle for silver in the mixed doubles final on Monday. They lost the title battle in three sets at the hands of second seed Taipei pair of Yang Tsung Hua and Chan Yung
Jan. The final match score was 6-4 1-6 2-10.
Somdev and Sanam's gold assumes great significance as the Indian side landed in China without their top doubles team of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes who won the gold at the Asian Games back in 2006 and are currently playing
the season finale in London.
Moreover, Rohan Bopanna is also not playing in the 16th edition of the Asian Games in spite of the fact that he also couldn’t make it into the elite eight man field in London.
The 24-year-old Sania Mirza also had to settle for a bronze medal on Sunday in the women’s singles event.
Somdev, who also grabbed a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, last month, continued to be India's flag bearer from the men’s side. Prior to the right hander, not even a single player from India had managed
to make his way into the men's singles final and India had capped just three bronze medals in men's singles in Asian Games.
Leander had grabbed it sixteen years ago when the event was held in Hiroshima whereas Prahlad Srinath and Mahesh Bhupathi took it during the Asian Games in Bangkok back in 1998.
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