Indian tennis superstar Sania Mirza’s Rio Olympics loss continues to haunt her even five years later. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, she missed out on her maiden Olympic medal by a whisker five when she crashed out of the mixed doubles bronze medal match with Rohan Bopanna. The Indian pair, who had upstaged the British pair of Andy Murray and Heather Watson in the quarter-final, were defeated 1-6, 6-7 in the bronze playoff by Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic.
She reflected on the elusive Olympic medal while speaking after connecting virtually at the Bangalore Literature Festival on Saturday, “I am still unable to get over it and have nightmares. I suddenly wake up from sleep and have tears in my eyes. Coming that close and still being unable to get it was quite heartbreaking,” reported Times of India,
Sania, the world number one doubles player at the time, had stated that overcoming the mental fatigue that resulted from the loss would be difficult. She vowed to come back strong, but she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to compete in the next Olympics. She, however, did compete in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
She became the first Indian women athlete to compete in fourth Olympics, but she was eliminated in the first round of the women’s doubles event with Ankita Raina. Sania didn’t have a male compatriot to partner within mixed doubles to have a better shot at the medal.
Reflecting on the disappointing night at the Rio Olympics, she said at the event, “After the match, we were on a one-hour bus journey to the airport and did not say a word. There was nothing to say.” She added, “It was the first time I saw Rohan in tears.”
The Hyderabadi tennis player has always been very vocal about the system’s inadequacy in unearthing new tennis stars from the country. She spoke about it again saying, “All the players so far have come up not because of the system, but because of individual effort. We cannot expect miracles overnight. But we can hope the system will get better.”
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