The Indian tennis team which has embarked on the trip to Indonesia for the upcoming Asian Games is quite confident of dominating the competition. With a grand total of 18 medals across the last four editions, this team has a mix of youth and experience which can be very successful at the games.
Eight of the twelve players in the squad are aged under 25 which is great news for India going forward in the future. In Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi, India have two big medal hopes in the Asian Games.
While Raina is currently the highest-ranked Indian in the doubles ITF events, 20-year-old Thandi will aim to pinch a medal of any colour.
As far as the surprise factor is concerned, one should not rule out the pairing of Rutuja Bhosale and Pranjala Yadlapalli, who clinched their second doubles at the ITF tournament at Nonthaburi in Thailand just last week.
As far as the men's team is concerned, there are massive expectations from Ramkumar Ramanathan. He made the finals of the Hall of Fame Open, however, went down to Steve Johnson. On his day, Ramanathan has the ability to stage upsets even at the world level as his recent exploits in ATP and Grand Slams is a testament to that.
There is also Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan, who will surely turn up for the men's doubles. After having come very close to an Olympic medal in Rio, Bopanna tasted success when he won the French Open mixed doubles title in 2017. The pair has been in good form in the recent past as they reached the last eight in Wimbledon just a couple of months back.
There is plenty to be excited about if you are a tennis fan. There is a sense of excitement with so many youngsters around and a sense of expectation with the experience guiding them. While it is difficult to predict the medal tally, a good showing can be surely guaranteed.
Let the games begin!
