India Open quarter-finals: Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa fall against Miyuki Maeda, Satoko Suetsuna
It was end of road for India in Women’s Doubles event of Yonex Sunrise India Open as their prime team Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa knelt down against Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna in quarter-final match on April 27, 2012.
Though, the World Number 20 duo Jwala-Ashwini played its heart out but they had to bid adieu to home event after reading 21-19, 13-21 and 14-21 score on the board.
On the other hand, the Japanese ladies registered their class in this hard fought 63-minute tussle and emerged as victors despite of losing the opening game.
In first set, Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna gained a decent lead in the start but they could not maintain their supremacy. They blundered which ultimately allowed the Indians to thunder.
The twosome of Jwala and Ashwini relished the home ground and crowd advantage and created huge pressure by leveling score at 16-16.
They managed to end first encounter with a favourable margin of 21-19 and setup 1-0 lead in the match.
However, this first set loss did not break the rhythm of Japanese girls as they made amends in following games.
This time Miyuki-Satoko, currently ranked six in world ranking, unleashed a killing attack and placed a notable margin of 11-6 in first half of the set.
They kept on playing with same tactics in later part also and raised their total to 18 points. The Indians resisted a bit by clinching three back-to-back points but they could not carry the momentum and hung up rackets after reading concluding score of 13-21.
Third and final set kept swinging between two contenders as both teams put all they got to stop their rivals’ expedition and to ensure their presence in second last round of the event.
Local campaigners Jwala and Ashwini put a decent show after staying at lower end in first half and tried to rise on their toes with a strong backlash but the Japanese proved that there defence was even stronger than their attack.
The third seed pair of tournament Miyuki-Satoko sealed their victory with a significant margin of 21-14 and setup a semi-final clash with Chinese couple Bao Yixin-Zhong Qianxin.
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