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India's Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale were knocked out of the women's doubles tennis competition at the 2026 Asian Games after losing to Kazakhstan's Anna Danilina and Yuliya Putintseva on Monday.
The Indian pair went down 7-5, 3-6, [5-10] against the Kazakh duo in a closely contested match. Raina and Bhosale made a strong start, taking the opening set 7-5. However, Danilina and Putintseva fought back to claim the second set 6-3 before prevailing in the deciding match tiebreak 10-5. The Indian duo managed to take the opening set despite facing a formidable opponent in Putintseva, who is a Top 100 player and a regular presence on the WTA Tour. However, Raina and Bhosale could not maintain their momentum in the latter stages of the contest as the Kazakh pair completed the comeback. The defeat brings India's women's doubles campaign to an end at the Asian Games. Raina and Bhosale will, however, remain in contention in the mixed doubles competition and will look to continue their campaign at the event. India are having a mixed day at the 2026 Asian Games, with several athletes progressing across disciplines. In Kurash, Pincky Balhara defeated Lim Garam 3-0 in the women's 78kg quarterfinal to secure a medal. India's men's cricket team advanced to the semi-finals after their quarterfinal against Afghanistan was abandoned due to rain, with India progressing based on higher seeding. In archery, Chikitha Taniparthi and Jyothi Surekha Vennam won their respective women's compound individual Round of 32 matches, while Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Sahil Jadhav also advanced before Ganesh defeated Sahil 149-148 in the Round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals. In shooting, Neeru leads the women's trap qualification after Day 2, while Shapath Bharadwaj is fifth in the men's trap standings. Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat finished fifth in the women's 25m pistol team final and qualified for the individual final. India also defeated Hong Kong 3-0 in men's volleyball and China 3-0 in the women's squash team event. In sepaktakraw, India lost 1-2 to Japan and was eliminated after finishing bottom of Group B. In surfing, Kishore Kumar Anbarasu defeated China's Ma Wensong, while Sivaraj Babu lost to the Philippines' Alciso Jayuard. (ANI)
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