Women’s Tennis 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018

18th  Asian Games Jakarta

Palembang 2018

China Wins gold in Women’s Tennis

In

Asian Games 2018

Antara/Palembang/ Jakarta

China’s first seeded Zhang Shuai won gold for her country in the women’s singles tennis at the 2018 Asian Games after her victory over India’s Ankita Raina in the semifinal on Thursday.

Playing at Jakabaring Sports City in Palembang, Zhang stopped the aggressive resistance of Raina in two sets of 131 minutes, with a final score of 6-4, 7-6 (6).

“It was a very tough match today and we both did our best. I’m happy I won an Asian Games gold medal, which is the most important target,” said Zhang following the game.

The tight contest was already predicted from the beginning and they were indeed both struggling in the first set, although Zhang was still superior. The match paused for a while in the second set as Raina asked for permission to use the toilet.

“Actually I just wanted to finish the game very quickly and be satisfied with a good score,” she commented on the halted match. Nonetheless, Zhang saw Raina as a talented opponent with a bright future.

“She played very well, benefiting from break points several times. I think she has the potential to be in the top 100 in the world,” said the 32-rated tennis player.

With her win, Zhang ensures China’s gold medal for women’s singles tennis after her compatriot Wang Qiang also entered the final phase of the women’s singles tennis competition by beating Chinese Taipei’s Liang En-Shuo 6-1, 6-3.

Indonesia, as host to the 2018 Asian Games, failed to earn a medal in women’s tennis after singles player Aldila Sutjiadi, who had put in a good performance, was beaten 4-6, 3-6 by Wang Qiang in the quarterfinal.