Sania Mirza looks for Olympic gold in mixed doubles

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Sania Mirza looks for Olympic gold in mixed doubles

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For a country of 1.2 billion people, India has struggled to find success at Olympics.

16 January,2012 08:50 pm

Sania Mirza, the countrys top womens tennis player, hopes to help double that total in London this year.India only has one singles player ranked in the top 100 Somdev Devvarman at No. 86 in the ATP rankings but it does have some of the worlds best doubles players. Mirza is ranked 11th in the WTA doubles rankings, while Leander Paes is No. 7 in the ATP doubles rankings, Mahesh Bhupathi is No. 8 and Rohan Bopanna is No. 11.Mirza, who lost her first-round singles match at the Australian Open to Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria on Monday, says shes planning to play mixed doubles with one of the three men at the 2012 London Games.Its the first time since 1924 that mixed doubles will be included at the Olympics.Funnily enough, a medal is a medal at the Olympics. It doesnt matter if you get it in singles, doubles or mixed, she says. Were a big country, and obviously (the) Olympics is important to us.As for her partner in London, Mirza says shed be happy with any of the three mens players. Mirza partnered with Bhupathi to win the Australian Open mixed title in 2009 and won the mixed gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games with Paes.Im in a great position to choose from three people who are in the top 12 in the world (in doubles), she said. Obviously, the best people will be put forward.