Indian tennis player Sriram Balaji on Saturday claimed a bronze medal at the World Military Games 2019 after defeating his Uzbekistani opponent Fomin Sergey 6-2, 6-3 in the men's singles bronze medal contest.
Speaking to ANI after the match, Balaji said that he is glad to have come to China a week prior to the tournament as it gave him the time to practice and adjust to the slow court conditions in the country.
"We are used to playing in the fast court conditions in India. I am glad I came here a week prior to the tournament as it gave me enough time to get used to the slow court conditions here."
Taking about his performance in the tournament, he said: "While I am satisfied with my performance in men's singles, I believe we could have clinched a medal in doubles. We will try our best the next time."
Meanwhile, India on Saturday missed a medal in the men's 4x400 relay final after the quartet of Kunhu Mohammad, Santosh Kumar, Jabir Madari and Muhammed Anas finished fourth with a timing of 3:06.81s.
The gold, silver and bronze in the event went to Bahrain (3:06.20s), Poland (3:06.36s) and Algeria (3:06.67s) respectively.
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The Indian team objected to the result on grounds that one of its team members was pushed by an Algerian player during the race. The claim was rejected after the video of the race was scrutinised.
Middle distance runner Jinson Johnson also missed out on a medal after finishing fifth in the men's 1500m finals with a timing of 3:49.34s. The gold, silver and bronze in the event went to Poland's Rozmys Michal (3:46.33s), Morocco's Ouladha Hicham (3:46.44s) and Lewandowski Marcin (3:46.61s) respectively.
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