Zeeshan Ali, coach and captain of the Indian tennis contingent, feels the country has found a successful doubles team in Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan after their Asian Games 2018 gold
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan put on a thoroughly professional performance to beat Kazakhstan's Aleksander Bublik and Denis Yevseyev 6-3, 6-4 in just 52 minutes to clinch the gold medal match in Palembang yesterday.
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Zeeshan Ali, coach and captain of the Indian contingent, felt that the doubles team is sorted for good thanks to this Asian Games. "I feel Rohan and Divij will bring a lot of glory as India's top doubles team in the near future," he said.
However, things could have gone awry for a number of reasons. "Sure, on paper, Rohan and Divij were the top-ranked team, but let's not forget that this team was hit by a huge controversy even before the Games began.
Zeeshan Ali
Tough to focus
"So, to keep their minds on the job at hand is always difficult. Besides, they had a very tough game in the semi-finals against the Japanese, where we lost the opening set and then won via super tie-break [4-6, 6-3, 10-8]," said Zeeshan, referring to veteran Leander Paes pulling out of the Indian team just before the Games, citing the absence of a specialist partner.
Speaking about how he managed to motivate his boys, Zeeshan, a former Davis Cupper himself, said that Indian tennis of late had become synonymous with controversy. "There's so much happening in Indian tennis off the court nowadays that these guys are totally used to it. They know exactly how to leave the extra baggage outside before stepping on court," added Zeeshan. He hailed Bopanna's role as the senior pro in the side.
'Great camaraderie'
"There's great camaraderie in this bunch. In one of Praj's [Prajnesh Gunneswaran] singles matches here, he strained his shoulder and Rohan was there to help him out and advise him on how to go forward. I think senior pros like Rohan and Leander are an asset to the Indian team and this is even if they are not playing. Their experience is so rich that the youngsters in the team can benefit so much," he added.
Prajnesh yesterday lost in the singles semi-finals to Uzbekistan star Denis Istomin to secure a bronze medal. This was India's third medal, after Ankita Raina won bronze in the women's singles here recently. The Indians will once again head back to Davis Cup duty, where team selection is again going to be a controversial call as has been in the past.
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