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Indian veteran tennis star Rohan Bopanna partnered with Rutuja Bhosale to down the Chinese Taipei duo of En-shuo Liang and Tsung-hao Huang in the final of the Tennis mixed doubles event at the Asian Games 2023 on Saturday, September 30. They beat their opponents 2-6, 6-3, 10-4 to get the country's ninth Gold medal.
After dropping the initial set 2-6, the Indian team staged a remarkable comeback, securing the second set and pushing the match into a decisive tie-breaker. In an exhilarating contest lasting 1 hour and 14 minutes, the Indian pair dominated the tie-breaker, ultimately prevailing with a score of 10-4 to clinch the gold medal. This victory upheld India's impressive record of securing at least one gold medal in each of the six Asian Games editions in the 21st century.
For Bopanna, this marked his second medal at the Asian Games, having previously won the men's doubles gold in Jakarta 2018. This achievement came as a significant relief for him, particularly after the unexpected early exit he experienced in the men's doubles event this week, alongside Yuki Bhambri, a highly regarded pair expected to secure gold. In contrast, Rutuja had a memorable outing, securing her first-ever Asian Games medal.
This also signifies India's second tennis medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, as the duo of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni secured the silver medal in men's doubles, falling short in the final against the Chinese Taipei pair of Jason Jung and Yu-hsiou Hsu. Furthermore, it marks India's third gold medal triumph in mixed doubles at the Asian Games, with previous victories achieved by Leander Paes and Sania Mirza at Doha 2006, and Sania Mirza partnering with Myneni to claim the top spot at Incheon 2014.
