ID :
150866
Tue, 11/23/2010 - 18:48
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/150866
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Somdev enters history books with first singles gold at Asiad
Guangzhou, Nov 23 (PTI) Somdev Devvarman added a historic
singles gold to his men's doubles triumph with an upset win
over world number 40 Denis Istomin as India rounded off its
tennis campaign at the Asian Games with five medals here on
Tuesday.
Second seed Somdev entered history books with his superb
6-1 6-2 win in the final over the top seed Uzbek as no Indian
had won a gold medal in the event at the Asian Games before.
Somdev, ranked 106, won his second gold in as many days
at the Games as he had combined with Sanam Singh to win men's
doubles event on Monday.
Just last month only Somdev had won men's singles gold at
the Commonwealth Games and has been the face of India on the
ATP Tour in singles for quite some time.
The gritty Indian fell on his back on the court with
tears in his eyes when a forehand error by Istomin confirmed
Somdev's gold medal.
"I am very, very happy to get the gold here. It's a dream
come true. No one comes to an Asian Games with the intention
of winning two gold medals. Representing the country gives me
the greatest pleasure," said Somdev.
India had three bronze medals in men's singles to show so
far at the Games with Leander Paes (Hiroshima in 1994), Mahesh
Bhupathi (Bangkok in 1998) and Prahlad Srinath (Bangkok in
1998) winning them in the last decade.
In total, Somdev won three medals at this edition of the
Games as he had earlier won a bronze in team event as well.
India rounded off its tennis campaign with five medals,
two more than what the country had got at the Doha Asian Games
in 2006.
At Doha, Leander Paes had won two gold medals -- in men's
doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi and in mixed doubles with Sania
Mirza.
Sania had won a sliver in the women's singles.
Somdev broken his rival's serve thrice in the opening set
to clinch it 6-1 when Istomin, ranked 44th as compared to the
Indian’s 106th going into the event, hit his forehand shot
over the baseline.
Somdev, who handled the pressure of playing the
all-important gold medal match much better than his rival,
staved off an early break attempt by Istomin in the second set
by hanging on to his serve grimly in the third game of the
second set, got an early break and then dropped his serve
immediately.
But getting a second wind, the Indian raced away from 3-2
to 6-2 by breaking Istomin twice more, in the sixth and eighth
games, to complete a memorable outing at this South Chinese
city. MORE PTI SSR
DBP
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