Sania dedicates opening Asian Games victory to hubby Shoaib

GUANGZHOU - Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has dedicated her opening Asian Games win to her husband and former Pakistan cricket captain, Shoaib Malik.

Mirza, whose ranking has slumped to 166 following a series of injuries, needed just under an hour to clinch a 6-1, 6-0 win against Hong Kong’s Chan Wing Yau, The News reported.

“I didn’t feel well in the last two weeks,” said the 24-year-old, who captured a gold and two silvers at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

“I was absent from the team event, but now I feel much better… My husband came here today, that made me very confident and I felt good,” she declared.

Mirza next tackles the Chinese sixth seed, Zhang Shuai, who needed just 33 minutes to defeat Nepalese Malika Rana in an embarrassing mismatch.

“Sania is a very strong opponent and we respect her,” said Zhang, the world 91, who earlier defeated Mirza at the Guangzhou Open in the same Aoti Tennis Centre court this season. (ANI)