Shuttlers crush opponents enroute to final
SHILLONG: Ace shuttler Jwala Gutta took to the court for the first time at the 12th South Asian Games on Tuesday when she teamed up with her doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa in a quarterfinal match on a day the Indians proceeded to the semis en masse.
The Indian shuttlers yet again repeated the feat of winning all matches without dropping a single set at the NEHU, SAI Special Area Games centre here on Tuesday.
In the men’s singles Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy made it to the round of four while in the women’s event, a composed PV Sindhu and SAG debutant Ruthvika Shivani made the cut.
Gutta and Ponnappa beat their Sri Lankan rivals Chandrika De Silva and Nadeesha Gayanthi to the semis in women’s doubles with the men’s doubles pair of Manu Atri and Sumeeth Reddy following suit.
Earlier, K Srikanth and HS Prannoy made to the round of four in the men’s singles beating Ahmed Thoif Mohamed of Maldives and Murad Ali of Pakistan, respectively. While Srikanth sent Nepal’s Bikash Shrestha packing for a place in the quarters, Prannoy tamed Bhutan’s Karma Chendru to make the cut.
Sindhu, who received a bye to the quarters, took just 15 minutes to beat Maldives’ Aishath Afnaan 21-7, 21-7 to reach the semis.
India’s Ruthvika Shivani also made it to the last four beating Sri Lanka’s Thilini Hendahewa and Pakistan’s Khizna, on the way.
There was a sudden buzz at the NEHU indoor sports complex when the famed Indian women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa arrived at the court for their quarterfinal encounter with Sri Lanka’s Chandrika De Silva and Nadeesha Gayanthi.
Gutta looked relaxed and visibly casual in her approach initially, but was spot on with her moves. The crowd put its weight behind the Indian pair as Gutta went about things in a way unique to her. Gutta delivered accurate strokes and never missed a chance to press the deception button thus confusing her opponents.
Ponnappa, meanwhile, delivered a couple of perfect cross court smashes to rattle the opponents. The duo sealed the game 21-11, 21-12.
The most closely fought encounter of the day for the Indians was the quarterfinal match between the women’s doubles pair of Maneesha Kukapalli and Sikki Reddy and Pakistan’s Saima Wagas and Sara.
While the Indian pair sailed through 21-9 in the first set, Saima and Sara came back strong in the second threatening to take the set, a first against India in the event till now. Down 16-18, the Indian pair fought back to 18-18 and subsequently won the set 21-19.
In the men’s doubles Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Atri beat the Pakistan pair of Azeem and Irfan 21-14, 21-17 to enter the semis. The other Indian men’s doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Jerry Chopra made light work of Bangladesh’s Enamul and Parash beating them 21-10, 21-11 in just 20 minutes.
In mixed doubles, Manu Atri and Ashwini Ponnappa put aside the challenge by Pakistan’s Shabar Hussain and Saima Wagas in just 16 minutes beating them 21-7, 21-4. The other Indian mixed doubles pair of Pranav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy beat Nepal’s Ratnajit Tamang and Sara Devi Tamang in straight sets to move forward.
With all the Indians making the cut, an all-Indian final looks like the most obvious thing on Wednesday.