Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa crash out in first round of the 2011 China Masters Super Series
India’s top shuttlers and World Championships bronze medallists, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa crashed out in the first round after they lost to China’s lower ranked pair of Huan Xia and Tang Jinhua at the 2011 China Masters Super Series, on September
14, in China.
World Number 16 pair of Gutta and Ponnappa failed to continue their impressive performance which they showed in last month’s World Championships and lost to World Number 85 duo of Xia and Jinhua, in three sets. The Chinese shuttlers player wonderful badminton
and stunned the Indians with their positive and aggressive approach in the match.
The Chinese duo started the first set in a calm but quick manner, as they were in wonderful control of the bird from all corners of the court. They played a complete game by employing all their skills and made the higher ranked Indians work hard for every
point. Xia and Jinhua were leading the set with a score of 11-9, at the end of the interval.
After the break, the Chinese pair maintained their domination in the whole set and won it with a tight margin of 21-19, in 29 minutes. The Indians failed to show good form in the first set, as they were not having good co-ordination.
However, the Indians played different badminton in the following set and remained successful in pushing their opponents on the back foot. Gutta’s skill at the net combined with Ponnappa’s powerful smashes helped them in winning the game in 15 minutes, with
the score of 21-15.
The deciding set of this Women’s Doubles contest remained close as both sides played fast and controlled badminton. The long rallies showed their patience to wait for the right opportunity of scoring points.
However, the score remained equal until 21-21, when the Chinese shuttlers played some perfect attacking strokes and won the set with a 23-21 margin in 23 minutes. This Women’s Singles first-round match ended in the favour of China’s shuttlers with the score
of 21-19, 15-21 and 23-21, in 57 minutes.
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