Incheon:
India were on Monday knocked out of medal contention in both the men’s and women’s tennis team events after losing their respective quarterfinal clashes to Kazakhstan in the 17th Asian Games here.
Both the teams lost by a similar 1-2 margin to the Kazakhs, seeded top in men’s and second in women’s competition.
For the men, Sanam Singh opened the proceedings and went down 6-7 (5) 6-7 (3) to Aleksandr Nedovyesov in a gruelling match which lasted two hours.
Yuki Bhambri was the next player in and he also endured a draining battle before losing 2-6 7-6 (6) 1-6 to Mikhail Kukushkin in two hours and three minutes.
However, the doubles pairing of Saketh Myneni and Divij Sharan prevented a whitewash by notching up an upset 7-5 7-5 triumph over Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
In the women’s tie, Prarthana Thombare lost the opening match to Yuliya Putintseva 3-6 2-6 in one hour and 24 minutes. Ankita Raina fared slightly better but could not upstage Yaroslava Shvedova, going down 5-7 6-7 (3) in two hours and six minutes.
India were saved from being blanked out after the duo of Yuliya Putintseva and Kamila Kerimbayeva retired midway through the doubles match.
