Jwala Gutta - Ashwini Ponnappa surge into Women’s Doubles semi-final of the 2011 World Championships
India’s top pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa delivered a stunning performance as they defeated Nadya Melati and Vita Marissa of Indonesia in the Women’s Doubles quarter-final of the 2011 World Championships, in London, England, on Friday, August
12.
The Indian duo played to their maximum abilities and emerged as the winners in a thrilling rubber-set match against the higher ranked Indonesians. Gutta and Ponnappa worked hard for three games to win the battle by a margin of 17-21, 21-10 and 21-17.
In the opening set, the Indonesians played good badminton and maintained their domination by playing a fast game. The Indians failed to tackle the aggressive game of their opponents and lost the opening game with a margin of 17-21.
In the following set, Gutta and Ponnappa entered the court having different strategy in their minds. They played an entirely different game this time, as they displayed an aggressive intent and won the set quite easily with the margin of 21-10.
The deciding game was a good fight as both sides remained neck-to-neck in the first-half. The Indians started to control the pace as the match progressed and they pushed their challengers in defensive positions. The powerful smashes executed by Ponnappa
helped them to win the final set by a margin of 21-17.
After the match, Jwala said, “It’s awesome. It has been incredible run so far. We are jelling well and playing some good badminton.”
The Indian duo played with complete harmony and their co-ordination in the court was impressive. While talking about their strategy in the quarter-final match, Jwala said, “We attacked well and defended the crucial points well. We dominated the second and
third games. We were confident of winning even though the Indonesian pair saved three match points when trailing 14-20.”
Pullela Gopichand, national coach of India said, “They could not strike a rhythm in the first game. Once Jwala took control of the game, it was Indians all the way. Jwala was brilliant with her serve while Ashwini manned the back court brilliantly.”
In the Women’s Doubles semi-final, Gutta and Ponnappa will play against China’s Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao.
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