Jakarta, 23 August 2018: Rising Indian Tennis star Ankita Raina had to contend with a bronze medal, as she went down to China’s Shuai Zhang in the Tennis Women’s Singles Semi-finals here on Thursday. It was a spirited performance from her to get to this stage and everyone in the country would be very proud of her.
A rule of the 2018 Asian Games is that both losing semi-finalist will receive a bronze medal, so Raina didn’t have to play a 3rd-4th place game. For all those who didn’t watch the game, let me tell you that Raina didn’t give up without fighting. She gave it her all in a high-profile match, against Zhang, who has been a regular player at the biggest stage, and is also the highest ranked Chinese player at the moment.
Ankita Raina didn’t waste time before posting her happiness on Twitter:
And God has been kind! ???♀️?Thank you India for your blessings and wishes, wouldn’t have been possible without it! #Gratitude #JaiHind #AsianGames2018 #Tennis #Singles #Dreamcometrue #FirstMedal #Moretocome #UpwardsandOnwards pic.twitter.com/EPGq78dtVq
— Ankita Raina (@ankita_champ) August 25, 2018
While Raina walked away with honours in the Women’s Singles Event, India’s hopes in the Mixed Doubles washed away as the pair of Raina and Rohan Bopanna lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-10 to an Indonesian pair in their quarter final game. Bopanna, however, went on to win gold in the Men’s Doubles, with his partner, Divij Sharan. This became India’s 6th gold medal of the 2018 Asian Games.