The Indian women’s doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto put up a spectacular performance to outwit the third-seeded Dutch pair of Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen 21-12, 21-12 to enter the final of the Guwahati Masters BWF Super 100 International badminton tournament here on Saturday.
On a day when Indians in other categories — Malvika Bansod (women’s singles), Amsakarunan Hariharan & Ruban Kumar (men’s doubles), Dhruv Kapila & Tanisha (mixed doubles) – bowed out in the semifinals, the duo of Ashwini and Tanisha brought joy to a sparse gathering.
There is something exciting about how 34-year-old Ashwini and 20-year-old Tanisha compete and complement each other on court: Ashwini is graceful with measured movements while Tanisha is lively and aggressive at the net with full zest.
The Indian pair will be the favourite when it takes on Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui of Chinese Taipei in the final on Sunday. The Taipei duo had a facile 21-15, 21-19 victory over Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu of Australia in the other women’s doubles semifinal.
The results (Semifinals):
Men: Singles: Yohanes Saut Marcellyno (Ina) bt Cheam June Wei Wei 21-10, 21-19; Alvi Wijaya Chairulah (Ina) bt Justin Hoh (Mas) 21-12, 11-2 (retd.). Doubles: Lin Bing-Wei & Su Cheng Heng (Tpe) bt Amsakarunan Hariharan & Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi 21-10, 21-19; Choong Hon Jian & Haikal Muhammad bt Boon Xin Yuan & Goh V. Shem 21-18, 21-17.
Women: Singles: Lalinrat Chaiwan (Tha) bt Malvika Bansod 21-12, 21-14; Line Christophersen (Den) bt Wen Chi Hsu (Tpe) 21-15, 12-21, 21-17. Doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa & Tanisha Crasto bt Debora Jille & Cheryl Seinen (Ned) 21-12, 21-12; Sung Shuo Yun & Yu Chien Hui (Tpe) bt Setyana Mapasa & Angela Yu (Aus) 21-15, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Hee Yong Kai Terry & Tan Wei Han Jessica (Sin) bt Dhruv Kapila & Tanisha Crasto 21-18, 21-15; Mads Vestergaard & Christina Busch (Den) bt Choong Hon Jian & Go Pei Kee (MAS) 21-16, 12-21, 21-17.
