Canada Open – the $50,000 Grand Prix tournament has turned out to be a disappointing series for the Indian badminton fans; the duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnapa being the only survivors.
They’ll now take on Japanese pair Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto. Following their sensational win they have reached their career-ever best ranking of 13, as ranked by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The pair is now through to the semifinals with a 21-19, 21-13 win over Hong Kong combo of Chan Kaka Tsz Ka andYuen Sin Ying in women’s doubles quarter-finals at the Markin MacPhail Centre.
22-year-old Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati, seeded 10th, went down fighting 13-21, 21-18, 11-21 to two-time Olympics silve- medallist and former World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei. The Indian shuttler has lost to Lee twice successively after losing to the Malaysian at the US Open semifinals. Whereas ninth seed Jayaram, lost to top seed Marc Zwiebler of Germany 16-21, 15-21 in another quarterfinal match.
In women’s doubles, Pradnya and Sikki gave a tough fight but it ended with a heart breaking 18-21, 25-23, 15-21 loss to Poon Lok Yan and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong. Now we are all set to see Jwala and Ponnapa to fight for their title. Wishing this pair our luck, we hope for the best!
