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The All-India Tennis Association (AITA) has announced a 12-member squad for the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, which will begin on September 23. The team comprises six men and six women players, who will compete in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events.
The men's team will be led by veteran doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna, who is currently ranked No. 11 in the world. Bopanna has won five Masters 1000 titles in his career, including the 2023 Indian Wells Masters, where he became the oldest Masters 1000 champion in history.
The women's team will be spearheaded by Ankita Raina, who is the highest-ranked Indian woman in singles at No. 134. Raina won a bronze medal in singles at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, becoming only the second Indian woman to do so after Sania Mirza. The 30-year-old will partner with Bopanna in mixed doubles, where they reached the final of the Australian Open earlier this year.
Squads
Men’s: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal, Sasikumar Mukund, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni
Women’s: Ankita Raina, Karman Kaur Thandi, Rutuja Bhosale, Sahaja Yamalapalli, Vaidehi Chaudhari, Prarthana Thombare
The team will be coached by former Indian players Rohit Rajpal and Ankita Bhambri, who have been appointed as the captains for the men's and women's teams respectively. “The chairman of the (AITA) Professional Selection Committee, Nandan Bal, after considering valuable suggestions from the committee members and team captains, recommended the names of the players,” the statement of the Indian tennis body read.
The Indian tennis contingent will be hoping to improve on their performance from the last edition of the Asian Games, where they won one gold and two bronze medals. Bopanna and Divij Sharan clinched the men's doubles gold, while Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Raina won bronze medals in men's and women's singles respectively.
