Would you believe it that before Friday’s final, Divij Sharan had an Asian Games medal to his name, but Rohan Bopanna had none? The 38 year old Coorgi has finally changed that around, bagging gold with Sharan in the Men’s Doubles.
Bopanna and Sharan beats Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Bublik and Denis Yevseyev 6-3, 6-4 in the final to give India its sixth gold from these Games. Interestingly, India have won the Men’s Doubles four times in the last five editions of the Asian Games.
The top seeded Indians hardly broke any sweat in the first set, and the camaraderie between the two players was evident. 3-3 in the second set, Bopanna and Sharan clinched the all-important break to go up. They were pushed a bit in the following game, but held serve to race to a 5-3 lead. The Kazakhs held on in the next game but it was too little too late, as India won an easy gold.
Divij Sharan had won the doubles bronze with Yuki Bhambri in Incheon before this.