Rutuja Bhosale and Ankita Raina bowed out of the Asian Games women’s doubles in round one, going down to Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Yulia Putintseva. The Indians led by a set and 3-1 in the second, but the Kazakh pair, led by doubles World No. 6 Danilina, took the match 5-7 6-3 [10-5].
India draw first blood
Across the net stood Anna Danilina, a player who has spent years among the very best in doubles, with Yulia Putintseva beside her, a former Doubles Top-60 player. They carried the bigger names, but Bhosale and Raina carried a plan and they stuck to it. The first set became a slow, stubborn contest where neither side was allowed to relax, and the Indians kept finding a way to stay in the lead. When the decisive break came, it went to them. 7-5 to India, and suddenly the Kazakh pair were the ones looking for answers.
The turnaround in the second set
The second set began the way the first had ended, with Bhosale and Raina holding the upper hand. A 3-1 lead put them closer to victory, and the Indians were playing like a pair who had settled into the match. Meanwhile, at the other end, Danilina and Putintseva, who had spent a set searching for a way in, found it all at once. Game after game went their way, five in a row, and the lead that had looked so secure was gone before the Indians could rebuild it. The set closed 6-3 to Kazakhstan, and the match moved to a tie-break with everything back on the table.
The decider slips away
There was no dramatic collapse, just a steady drift. Danilina and Putintseva won the key points, while Bhosale and Raina found themselves chasing. The Indians had led by a set and 3-1, and the tie-break gave them little room to rebuild that hold on the match. Danilina, the doubles World No. 6, took charge when it counted, and the Kazakh pair closed it out 10-5.
The road ahead
Rutuja/Ankita’s exit means India faces the end of the road in the women’s-only events in Nagoya, which gives the loss extra sting. However, the tournament isn’t finished for either of them. In Mixed Doubles, Raina joins forces with Balaji while Bhosale pairs with Bhambri, and each would be keen to make deeper inroads putting to use the learnings from this hard-fought encounter.
Final score: Bhosale/Raina (IND) lost to Danilina/Putintseva (KAZ): 7-5 3-6 [5-10]