Doha:  Sania Mirza's quest for a maidenindividual gold medal at the Asian Games went up in smoke as she suffered aheart-breaking defeat against China's Jie Zheng in a high-voltage women'ssingles tennis final here today.

The 20-year-old Sania, who had not conceded a single set en route to her marchto the final, floundered at the final hurdle as her higher-ranked opponentrecorded a 6-4 1-6 6-1 victory in the summit showdown which lasted one hour and49 minutes at the Khalifa International stadium.

Sania, ranked 66th in the world, had to be content with a silver medal and hadherself to blame for the debacle as she committed as many as 45 unforced errorsto allow Zheng to wriggle out of tight situations.

The result came as a huge disappointment for the large crowd, mainly comprisingflag-waving Indian expatriates, who vociferously cheered the Indian star rightthrough the contest held under a blazing sun.

The second-seeded Zheng, ranked 33 in the world, made amends for compatriot andtop seed Na Li's stunning ouster in the semi-final after a defeat to Sania.

It is the first time that Zheng has won an Asian Games individual medal.