The All India Tennis Association announced the 12-member Indian squad for the upcoming 2022 Asian Games to be held between September 23 and October 8 later this year in Hangzhou, China. The events for tennis, which include men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles, will be held between September 24-30.
Rohan Bopanna, India’s highest ranked men’s doubles player (currently No 11) will lead the men’s team alongside India’s No 1 singles player Sumit Nagal.
Nagal, ranked 226 in the world, will lead the charge in men’s singles for India along with Sasikumar Mukund. India won a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia through Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
The defending champion in men’s doubles, Bopanna will be expected to team up with Ramkumar Ramanathan in the absence of Divij Sharan from the squad. The 43-year-old and Sharan had previously won the men’s doubles gold in 2018. Bopanna has had an impressive 2023 season so far, entering the top 10 of the doubles rankings back in May and winning two ATP titles (Indian Wells and Doha Open) with Australian Matthew Ebden.
The duo of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni will also be a medal contender in the men’s doubles for India, having made their way back into the ATP Challengers Tour after going through the ITF Futures tour in 2022. Bhambri (ranked 75) and Myneni (ranked 74) in doubles have both won medals at previous Asian Games – Bhambri with a bronze in both singles and doubles (with Sharan) in 2014 and Myneni with a silver in men’s doubles (with Sanam Singh) and gold in mixed doubles with Sania Mirza in Incheon 2014.
In the women’s team, Ankita Raina will lead the charge along with Karman Kaur Thandi. Raina, who is India’s top ranked singles player (world No 206) is the third medallist from the 2018 Asian Games, having won a bronze in women’s singles. She is also the highest ranked Indian in women’s doubles at No 149. Thandi is ranked world No 235 in doubles and recently reached the final of the ITF W60 event in Sumter, USA last week.
Rohit Rajpal and Ankita Bhambri will captain the men’s and women’s teams respectively.
Men’s team: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni, Mukund Sasikumar, Ramkumar Ramanathan
Women’s team: Rutuja Bhosle, Ankita Raina, Karman Kaur Thandi, Prarthana Thombare, Vaidehi Chaudhari, Sahaja Yamlapalli
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