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n August 24, 2018, exactly 5 months and 20 days after turning 38, Rohan Bopanna finally won his first medal, incidentally his first Gold for India at the Asian Games.
A double worth its gold for Rohan Boponna
BHAGYA IYYAVOO
Photo: Bhagya Iyyavoo
A month later on September 25th, he bagged the honour that had eluded him – Arjuna Award, and with that ticked off two key boxes on his career graph. At 38, Bopanna is the oldest to win his first Asiad medal in tennis. Such has been his career, especially when it came to opportunities to represent India. Success with the Indian flag has mostly come on the Davis Cup circuit for Bopanna. So those precious moments on top of the podium at Palembang, the oldest Indonesian city that hosted tennis, was special to the Coorgi lad. “It’s very special as it was my first medal and that it was gold medal made it more special. I was unfortunate to miss the last two Games and I am glad that I could be part of it this time around,” reflected Bopanna. With the former World No. 3 leading the gold quest in the absence of veteran Leander Paes, who pulled out in the last minute, the potential returns expected didn’t change. Only a few dynamics as to who will make the second doubles team had to be figured out. There were, however, no doubts with regards to India’s first team in men’s doubles despite Paes’ pullout, unhappy with the team selection. “Coming here as a seeded pair, we used it as a capital to be consistent and strive to win. However, the key is fighting together as a team,” noted Bopanna, who turned pro in 2003 and played his first Davis Cup match for India in 2002. For him it took nearly 16 years to proudly hold the
‘A Switch’ to GOLD for Bopanna-Sharan
Bopanna and Sharan with the 2018 Asian Games Gold Medals in Jakarta-Palembang
tricolour high as he went up on the podium along with Sharan to accept the medal. Bopanna never had it easy, when it came to representing India at the Games. He achieved his first ATP doubles title in 2008, and from there on his career expanded. This Karnataka star lived in the shadows of Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. He always had to do something extra to stand out. So, when the partnership with Pakistan star Aisamul-Haq Qureshi came by, the Indo-Pak Express took off and so did Bofors career. With Indian Express duo of Paes and Bhupathi in the peak of their careers, opportunities to represent India in multi-nation events like the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the Olympics besides the Davis Cup were far and few. And at times,
a few personal decisions too played a part. For someone, who has represented India in Davis Cup for a decade and a half, he had only a couple of chances to represent India at these Games, sometimes it was hard to grab a spot in the first team and on other instances he had made himself unavailable for national duty. Bopanna’s best attempt at Asiad before Palembang was reaching the quarterfinals in men’s doubles at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and the last 8 of the men’s team event at the 2002 Busan edition. No medal to show on his impressive resume which now has a Grand Slam title too, thanks to the French Open triumph in 2017 with Gabriela Dabrowski, becoming only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam title. In this backdrop, with Bopanna
Advantage Tennis Grand Slam Yearbook 2019
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