The 19th Asian Games, officially Hangzhou 2022, were ultimately held in 2023 after being postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Indian tennis, the Games produced two medals — one gold and one silver, both in doubles.
Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale won gold in mixed doubles, while Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan finished runners-up in men’s doubles. It was India’s smallest tennis medal haul since 2002, but the campaign also produced another Asian Games gold for Bopanna and a first Games medal for Bhosale and Ramanathan.
Tennis was played from September 24 to 30, 2023, at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Tennis Centre, popularly known as the “Little Lotus.”
Bopanna and Bhosale: A Gold-Medal Comeback
The biggest Indian story came in the mixed doubles.
Second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Rutuja Bhosale began their campaign with a bye before putting together four consecutive victories to reach the final.
Their route to the gold medal was:
- Round of 16: defeated Akgul Amanmuradova / Maksim Shin (Uzbekistan) — 6–2, 6–4
- Quarterfinal: defeated Ayano Shimizu / Shinji Hazawa (Japan) — 6–3, 6–4
- Semifinal: defeated Chan Hao-ching / Hsu Yu-hsiou (Chinese Taipei) — 6–1, 3–6, [10–4]
- Final: defeated Liang En-shuo / Huang Tsung-hao (Chinese Taipei) — 2–6, 6–3, [10–4].
The final was a particularly impressive turnaround.
Liang and Huang took the opening set 6–2, putting the Indian pair under pressure. Bopanna and Bhosale responded by taking the second set 6–3, forcing a deciding match tie-break.
India then raced ahead in the deciding shoot-out and completed the comeback 10–4. Bhosale sealed the gold with an ace.
For Bopanna, it was his second Asian Games gold medal. He had previously won the men’s doubles title with Divij Sharan at Jakarta–Palembang 2018.
For Bhosale, it was her first Asian Games medal.
The victory also extended India’s run of winning at least one tennis gold medal at every Asian Games edition from 2002 through Hangzhou 2022.
Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan Take Silver
The men’s doubles provided India’s other medal.
Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan, seeded second, progressed through the draw with four victories before reaching the final.
Their campaign was:
- Round of 32: defeated Abhinav Bastola / Mahesh Khadka (Nepal) — 6–2, 6–3
- Round of 16: defeated David Agung Susanto / Ignatius Anthony Susanto (Indonesia) — 6–3, 6–2
- Quarterfinal: defeated Wu Yibing / Zhang Zhizhen (China) — 6–1, 7–6(10–8)
- Semifinal: defeated Hong Seong-chan / Kwon Soon-woo (South Korea) — 6–1, 6–7(6–8), [10–0]
- Final: lost to Hsu Yu-hsiou / Jason Jung (Chinese Taipei) — 4–6, 4–6.
The semifinal against South Korea was the closest contest of their run.
Myneni and Ramanathan won the opening set 6–1, but Hong and Kwon fought back to take the second-set tie-break 8–6. The Indians, however, produced a dominant performance in the deciding match tie-break, winning it 10–0 to secure their place in the final.
The final against Hsu Yu-hsiou and Jason Jung was more straightforward for the Chinese Taipei pair. Hsu and Jung won 6–4, 6–4, leaving Myneni and Ramanathan with silver.
For Myneni, it was another Asian Games men’s doubles final after his silver with Sanam Singh at Incheon 2014.
For Ramanathan, the medal was his first at the Asian Games.
A Games of Mixed Fortunes for Indian Tennis
India had entered Hangzhou with considerable experience, including Bopanna, Myneni and Ramanathan. But the singles events did not produce a medal.
Sumit Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan were among India’s men’s singles competitors, while Ankita Raina represented India in women’s singles.
Nagal went down to top seed and eventual gold medalist Zhizhen Zhang of China 7-6(3) 1-6 2-6. This was the only set that Zhang lost in the tournament.
The men’s doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri, despite being top seeds, were eliminated in the second round by Sergey Fomin and Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan, 6–2, 3–6, [6–10].
That made the doubles events particularly important for India’s final medal tally.
Bopanna and Bhosale ultimately delivered the gold, while Myneni and Ramanathan ensured India would leave Hangzhou with a second medal.
India’s Hangzhou Tennis Medal Tally
Total: 1 Gold, 1 Silver — 2 medals.
India finished third in the tennis medal table, behind Chinese Taipei and China.
Asian Games Fact File
Games: 19th Asian Games
Edition: Hangzhou 2022
Host: Hangzhou, China
Actual dates: September 23 – October 8, 2023
Tennis dates: September 24 – 30, 2023
Tennis venue: Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Tennis Centre — “Little Lotus”
India’s tennis medals: 2
Gold: 1
Silver: 1
Bronze: 0
Gold medallists: Rohan Bopanna & Rutuja Bhosale
Silver medallists: Saketh Myneni & Ramkumar Ramanathan
The Asian Games Story Moves to Japan
From Shiv Prakash Misra and Vinay Dhawan’s first medal in 1966 to Bopanna and Bhosale’s gold in Hangzhou, Indian tennis has built a remarkable Asian Games history across six decades.
Hangzhou brought the series to the latest completed Asian Games edition, with Bopanna adding another gold to his Asian Games legacy and a new generation of Indian players continuing the medal tradition.
Now, the journey moves on.
The next chapter of Indian tennis at the Asian Games takes us to Japan — Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
Sources
- Olympic Council of Asia — Hangzhou 2022 tennis report
- Hangzhou Asian Games official — Tennis competition information
- Hangzhou Asian Games official — Tennis venue
- Tennis at the 2022 Asian Games — medal table and medalists
- Hindustan Times — Bopanna-Bhosale gold
- Hindustan Times — Myneni-Ramanathan reach final
- India Today — Indian tennis results at Hangzhou