Badminton
Guwahati Masters 2023: Ashwini-Tanisha reaches second successive final
Ashwini and Tanisha, who also reached the final of the Syed Modi tournament last week, defeated their Dutch opponents 21-12, 21-12 in semis.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in action on day 5 (Source: BAI)
Second-seeded Indian women's pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto came up with a clinical display against third-seeded Debora Jille and Cheryl Senen of the Netherlands to reach the women’s doubles final at the Guwahati Masters Super 100 in Guwahati on Saturday.
Ashwini and Tanisha, who also reached the final of the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament last week in Lucknow, defeated their Dutch opponents 21-12, 21-12.
The women’s doubles pair will be the only Indian representatives on the final day of competition after the host challenge ended in women’s singles, and mixed doubles categories on Saturday.
In the women’s singles semifinal, Malvika Bansod went down 21-12, 21-14 against Thailand’s Lalinrat Chaiwan while the men’s doubles combination of R Ruban Kumar and Hariharan Amsakarunan lost to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Bing-Wei and Su Ching Heng 21-10, 21-19.
Earlier in the day, Tanisha teaming up with Dhruv Kapila had lost the mixed doubles semifinal against second-seeded Hee Yong Kai Terry and Tan Wei Han Jessica of Singapore 21-18, 21-15.
However, the 20-year-old put that disappointment behind when she turned up for the women’s doubles semifinal and ably assisted her senior partner to reach their second consecutive summit clash.
The Dutch managed to keep pace with the Indian pair till 10-10 in the opening game before Ashwini and Tanisha bagged 11 of the next 13 points.
The second game was much more comfortable with the Indian combination always in the lead after bagging five straight points from 1-1.
Speaking about their performance on Saturday, Ashwini said, “We had decided to take an aggressive approach and we’re happy with the way we executed our game plan.”
Tanisha admitted that their bodies were feeling a bit tired after reaching their second straight final in two weeks. “But we are excited to reach the final and looking forward to winning the title.”
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) president and Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma was in attendance during high-quality action. Sarma later interacted with Badminton World Federation officials and BAI about the plans to develop the sport in the country.
