Adkar put on a clinical display to defeat local favourite Sina Herrmann 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. She will now take on Slovakia’s Eszter Meri in the semifinals on Thursday. With both losing semifinalists awarded bronze medals in tennis at the Games, Adkar is guaranteed a podium finish
Vaishnavi Adkar (Photo: Deepthi Indukuri/@SportsArena1234/X)
India is assured of a rare medal in tennis at the ongoing World University Games, thanks to Vaishnavi Adkar's heroics, who stormed into the women’s singles semifinals on Tuesday. The 20-year-old’s achievement stood out on an otherwise disappointing day for the Indian contingent across disciplines.
Adkar put on a clinical display to defeat local favourite Sina Herrmann 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. She will now take on Slovakia’s Eszter Meri in the semifinals on Thursday. With both losing semifinalists awarded bronze medals in tennis at the Games, Adkar is guaranteed a podium finish. Her run ensures that India will return with a medal in tennis for the first time in over four decades. The last and only Indian to win a tennis medal at the Games was Nandan Bal, who claimed silver in men’s singles in the 1979 edition in Mexico City.
While Adkar’s success brought some much-needed cheer, Indian athletes struggled in most other events. India’s only other medal so far has come from the badminton mixed team event, as the Games enter their second week.
In swimming, Srihari Nataraj won his men’s 50m freestyle heat with a time of 23.06 seconds but missed out on the semifinals after placing 28th overall. The final qualifying time stood at 22.72. Other Indian swimmers, Nithik Nathella (200m backstroke), Nina Venkatesh and Latiesha Mandanna (50m freestyle), and Divyanka Pradhan and Naga Vasupalli (100m breaststroke), all fell short of the semifinal cut. The men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Srihari, Aneesh, Shivank, and Shoan finished seventh in their heat, failing to make the final.
In archery, there was better news in the compound category. Asian Games gold medallist Parneet Kaur led India’s charge by topping the women’s compound qualification round with a score of 701, just one point ahead of South Korea’s Yerin Park. Madhura Dhamangaonkar (687) and Avneet Kaur (673) finished sixth and 22nd respectively, helping India secure the second seed in the women’s compound team event, behind only South Korea. India earned a direct entry into the quarterfinals and will meet the winner of Italy vs Ukraine on Thursday.
However, Indian men’s recurve archers failed to make an impact. Aryan Rana (640) finished as the top Indian in 29th position, followed by Vishnu Chaudhary (42nd, 627) and Mrinal Chauhan (47th, 622). South Korea continued its dominance in the discipline, occupying the top two spots. The Indian men’s recurve team placed 12th and will face the fifth-seeded USA in the pre-quarterfinals.
(With PTI inputs)
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