Gutta Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa won Canada Open Grand Prix Final

The Indian women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa has clinched the 2015 Canada Open title after beating the Netherlands pair of Eefge Muskens and Selena Piek 21-19, 21-16 in the final on Sunday.

The first game of the match proved to be an extremely tight affair as both the pairs gave their all right till the end. But the Indian duo kept their nerves and won the crucial points to eventually come out on top.

In the second game, Gutta and Ponnappa raced to an early 5-0 lead and then further built it to 15-6. It looked all over by that time but the Netherlands pair came back strong and won 9 consecutive points.

The game was tied at 15-15 but once against Gutta-Ponnappa played to their strength from there and sealed the game 21-16 to seal the title.

This is the maiden title for the pair since their reunion after the 2012 London Olympics. The duo trained separately for some time but now with the World Championship round the corner, they will once again start training together.

“It is a fantastic win. We have been playing well and have been consistent. Winning the tournament just before the world championship is a great boost. Naturally, the World Championship in August is the next target for us,” Ponnappa told PTI from Calgary.

Their consistency and a semifinal place at the US Open saw them reach their career-best ranking of world No. 13 last week and this win will see them surging further up but Ashwini said their target is doing well in tournaments and not focusing on ranking.

“This is the Olympic year. So we are trying to play a few GP and GP gold events besides the Super Series tournaments,” she said.

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Source:Ibnlive

Ashwini – Jwala