Devvarman and Peng win Asian Games gold

Written by: Staff on 2nd December 2010

Devvarman and Peng win Asian Games gold

Somdev Devvarman (IND) |

The tennis event at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou drew to a close on Tuesday with India’s Somdev Devvarman and China’s Shuai Peng winning the men’s and women’s singles gold medals.

Devvarman crushed Denis Istomin, the top seed from Uzbekistan, 61 62 in the final. The world No. 106, ranked 66 places lower than Istomin, raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set and then served it out in the seventh game. Istomin offered some resistance early in the second set but Devvarman soon established a double break advantage and went on to clinch India’s first ever men’s singles gold medal at the Asian Games.

“It’s beyond my expectations,” said Devvarman. “I just came over here to do my best. I am happy to win for my country.”

Devvarman had already picked up the doubles gold with Sanam Singh, defeating Chinese duo Maoxin Gong and Zhe Li 63 67(4) [10-8] in the final.

Peng also battled through a hard semifinal match on her way to glory, winning 76(6) 36 62 against the experienced No. 1 seed from Japan, Kimiko Date-Krumm. In the final, the 24-year-old edged a tight first set against Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova but eventually ran out an easy winner 75 62.

The women’s doubles gold was won by Yung Jan Chan and Chia Jung Chuang in an all-Chinese Taipei final. The pair overcame compatriots Kai-Chen Chang and Su-Wei Hsieh 75 63. Chan was also triumphant in the mixed doubles with Tsung-Hua Yang, coming from a set down to defeat Indian couple Sania Mirza and Vishnu Vardhan 46 61 [10-2].

The team event, which began on 13 November, was completed last week as Chinese Taipei men and China women were crowned champions.

Topics: Akgul Amanmuradova, Asian Games, Chia Jung Chuang, China Women, Chinese Taipei, Easy Winner, Games Gold, Gold Medals, Hua Yang, Indian Couple, Kai Chen, Kimiko Date, Sanam Singh, Semifinal Match, Shuai Peng, Somdev Devvarman, Tennis Event, Vishnu Vardhan, Way To Glory, Zhe Li