An exhausted Ankita Raina — she had competed in three events in a week and won a rare singles bronze for Indian women’s tennis in the Asian Games — was not tired of smiling though as she greeted the tennis fraternity here after her return from Indonesia.
The 25-year-old from Gujarat, who trains with coach Hemant Bendrey in Pune, fell sick as well but was unmindful of it at the DLTA Complex on Monday.
“It is a dream medal for me. I definitely went with the aim to win the gold, but lost a very close match in mixed doubles. The locals were cheering for them, and they played better. I did my best. Gave it all I had. You have to be grateful for what you have achieved,” said Ankita, adding that the medal would provide a positive change to her own outlook towards the game.
“This medal has given such a high boost to me. I feel that I can go farther than what I had set as my goals. It does not matter who I play or what her ranking is,” said Ankita.
Recalling her singles semifinal encounter against top seed Shuai Zhang, Ankita said, “even before the match, I knew that I would have my chances. I was ready, physically and mentally. As the match progressed, the opponent also started to understand my game better and won with her experience.”
Ankita also expressed her appreciation for Rohan Bopanna, both as a professional and as a person.
“It was great playing with Rohan. I learnt a lot from him. He watches all the matches and cheers our players. Our opponents in the mixed quarterfinals were not bad. Aldila Sutjiadi gave good support to Christopher Rungkat. We had our chances,” said Ankita.
Except for pouncing on the big overheads in a menacing fashion, Bopanna let Ankita play her game in the mixed matches, which conveyed his faith in her strong game.