Asiad 2018: Bopanna-Sharan enter final, Ankita gets bronze
Palembang (Indonesia), Aug 23 : The Indian men's doubles team of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan registered a hard fought victory to enter the final at the 18th Asian Games here on Thursday.
Bopanna and Sharan were made to work hard for an hour and 12 minutes by the Japanese duo of Kaito Uesugi and Sho Shimabukuro before grinding out a 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 win.
The Japanese lacked the power and big serve of the Indians, but made up with accurate placements and some good work at the net. Playing against more experienced and higher ranked opponents, Kaito and Sho did well to win the first set.
The second set went with the serve till the Indians earned their first service break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Serving for the set, Divij conceded a 0-40 deficit before fighting back to 40-40 and eventually holding serve to draw level.
The Indians then won the tie-breaker to enter the tennis final.
In the women's singles semi-finals, India's Ankita Raina will have to be content with a bronze medal after a straight sets loss to top seed Zhang Shuai of China.
Despite not being at full fitness, Ankita gave a spirited fight against a much higher rated opponent who is placed more than 150 places above her in the WTA rankings.
Despite losing the first set, Ankita fought back and almost won the second set before going down 4-6, 6-7 in a tough, long drawn battle that lasted for two hours and 11 minutes.
The first set was hard fought with Ankita leading 4-3 at one stage before the Chinese player won three consecutive games to win the set.
Zhang broke Ankita's serve in the third game of the second set and held serve to take a 3-1 lead. But the Indian hit back with a service break of her own to claw back to level terms at 3-3. She then held serve to take a 4-3 lead.
With the second set tied at 6-6 the issue went into the tie-breaker. Ankita was trailing in the tie-breaker but made a superb comeback to equalise at 6-6.
But Ankita then hit a return too long before another return into the net handed the match to Zheng.
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Mangaluru: Flight operations to gulf remain affected on March 4, 5
Mangaluru: Flight operations between Mangaluru and several Gulf destinations continue to remain affected, with multiple services cancelled on March 4 and 5, according to a statement issued by the airport spokesperson.
The cancelled flights on March 4 include
Mangaluru–Jeddah (IX 845)
Jeddah–Mangaluru (IX 846)
Mangaluru–Dubai (IX 831)
Mangaluru–Dubai (IX 813)
Mangaluru–Kuwait (IX 851)
Mangaluru–Dammam (IX 847)
Mangaluru–Abu Dhabi (IX 815).
Flights cancelled on March 5 include
Dubai–Mangaluru (IX 832)
Dubai–Mangaluru (IX 814)
Dammam–Mangaluru (IX 848)
Abu Dhabi–Mangaluru (IX 816).
Meanwhile, airline operations to Mumbai, Delhi and a few other cities from the Gulf are beginning in a limited manner.
Air India announced that it is deploying widebody aircraft with higher passenger capacity on its services to Jeddah and Dubai on March 3 and 4 to facilitate the return of passengers impacted by the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
A Boeing 777 aircraft with a seating capacity of close to 350 passengers departed Mumbai for Jeddah on the evening of March 3, the airline said in a statement.
This will be followed by a Boeing 787-9 aircraft with around 300 seats scheduled to depart Delhi for Dubai later in the night, and another Boeing 787-8 aircraft with over 250 seats operating from Mumbai to Dubai in the early hours of March 4.
Air India is deploying its widebody aircraft with higher capacity on its services to Jeddah and Dubai on 3 and 4 March to facilitate the return of passengers impacted by the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
— Air India Newsroom (@AirIndia_News) March 3, 2026
A Boeing 777 aircraft with a capacity of close to 350 seats… pic.twitter.com/NosjYSOhUE
Air India Express said it will resume flight operations to and from Muscat from March 3, 2026.
Air India Express will resume flight operations to and from Muscat from 3 March 2026. Meanwhile, flights to and from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will remain suspended until 23:59 hrs IST (18:29 hrs UTC) on 3 March 2026. Guests are advised to… pic.twitter.com/7eitC7huQv
— Air India Express (@AirIndiaX) March 2, 2026
However, flights to and from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will remain suspended until 23:59 hrs IST (18:29 hrs UTC) on March 3.
SpiceJet is operating special flights from Fujairah to Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi to support Indian nationals travelling back home.
SpiceJet is operating special flights from Fujairah to Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi to support Indian nationals travelling home.
— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) March 3, 2026
Standing by when it matters!
Jai Hind 🇮🇳#flyspicejet #spicejet pic.twitter.com/0wznG7hQgv
