Asian Games 2023: Rohan Bopanna, Rutuja Bhosale sail through to mixed doubles final

Bopanna had made an early exit in men's doubles at the ongoing continental meet.

India's Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale defeated Taiwan’s Yu-hsiou Hsu and Hao-Ching Chan in mixed doubles semifinals match 6-1, 3-6, 10-4 at Asian Games 2023. In the opening set, the Indian duo took the early lead breaking Hsu/Chan in the 3rd game to go up 2-1. Another opportunity to break came in the fifth game, and this, too, was grabbed by the Indians to race to a 4-1 lead in just 27 minutes.

The Indian side dominated the first set to wrap it up 6-1 in just 28 minutes, converting all three break points that came their way. One would have thought that the writing was on the wall and India would romp into the finals and win another medal in the process.

But the duo from Taiwan bounced back to take the second set, 6-3 in a shade over 31 minutes. The Indians backed off a bit in the second set, providing Hsu and Chan seven breakpoint opportunities, of which they converted two in the 7th and 9th games.

But the momentum was with India, with the seasoned Rohan Bopanna calling upon all his experience to prevail in the third set and win the match. After progressing to the final, another silver medal is assured for the Indian contingent in what is turning out to be an excellent Asian Games for the country.

Earlier in the day, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan earned a silver medal in their men’s doubles tennis event. India will now face the other Taiwanese duo who defeated the Philippines pair in another semifinals match earlier today in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. Taiwan was the more dominant side winning 81 points and serving well with no double faults to three by the Thai side.