In a gruelling contest that lasted a little over two hours on Thursday, Ankita Raina stood defeated to the better player of the day: China’s Zhang Shuai. But not before giving her all, not before making her opponent, ranked 155 spots higher than her, fight for almost every point. Despite the straight-set defeat, 4-6, 6-7 (6), Ankita reached a milestone – she became only the second Indian woman to clinch an individual medal in Asian Games tennis after Sania Mirza. Sania had won a silver at the Doha Games in 2006 and followed it with a bronze medal in the 2010 Games in Guangzhou.

The highest ranked Indian woman in singles has been constantly striving to better her game. Despite the scorching heat in Indonesia, she volunteered to play in three events. Her captain and coach at the Asian Games, Zeeshan Ali called her a “fighter” for the grit and commitment she possesses.

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Ankita Raina

Date of Birth: January 11, 1993

Event at Asian Games: Women’s singles and mixed doubles

Past performance (if any): Reached the third round in women’s singles and second round in mixed doubles with Divij Sharan in 2014. She was also part of the team that reached quarter-finals in the team event.

Best performance so far: Two $25K ITF titles

Brief Description: Ankita Raina is the highest ranked Indian woman singles player since Sania Mirza, with a career-high ranking of 181 achieved this year. She has had a good run in 2018 with two singles titles at ITF events and breaking into the Top 200 in WTA rankings. In singles, she won the women’s singles $25,000 ITF tournament and followed it with a semi-final in Kofu, Japan. In doubles, she won a title in Luan, China in May and lifted another ITF $25K tournament at Nonthaburi, Thailand.

She was also the only unbeaten player at the Fed Cup, where her gritty wins over top 100 players like Lin Zhu of China and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan made sure India retained their place in Asia/Oceania Group I. She made her Grand Slam debut this year at qualifying, reached the second round at Wimbledon but lost in the first round of French Open qualifying. She has previously won a women’s doubles silver with Prarthana Thombare at 2017 Asian Indoor Games.