At this moment, there are no foreseeable plans for their continuation as a duo; however, currently, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto celebrated another triumphant week, successfully defending the women’s doubles crown at the Guwahati Masters Super 100 on Sunday. Contributing to the host’s success, men’s singles third seed Sathish Kumar Karunakaran secured a second title […]
At this moment, there are no foreseeable plans for their continuation as a duo; however, currently, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto celebrated another triumphant week, successfully defending the women’s doubles crown at the Guwahati Masters Super 100 on Sunday.
Contributing to the host’s success, men’s singles third seed Sathish Kumar Karunakaran secured a second title on the day, while 17-year-old Anmol Kharb finished as the runner-up in women’s singles during her inaugural World Tour final.
Ashwini and Tanisha, the sole defending champions to hold onto their title, triumphed over China’s Li Hua Zhou and Wang Zi Meng with scores of 21-18, 21-12 in a final lasting 43 minutes, concluding the week without losing a single game. The pair had secured qualification for the Paris Olympics after an impressive domestic season at the end of last year, although their performance at the Games was disappointing. Nevertheless, this veteran-youngster duo has persisted, with Tanisha expressing her intention to honor her commitment to ‘Ashwini didi.’ For Ashwini, at the later stages of her career, the focus is on continuing to compete as long as they can sustain a good level on the tour.
“I definitely needed the break after Paris,” Ashwini remarked to The Indian Express last week in Lucknow during the Syed Modi International when they were defeated in the semifinals. “Having played for such a long time, it certainly takes a toll at times. However, the great part is that Tanisha is there for me as a partner. As long as she is present and I am fit to compete… it’s vital for us to perform at a high level – if that declines, it would be quite unfair to Tanisha, especially since she is doing exceptionally well in mixed doubles with Dhruv (Kapila) and has great potential ahead of her.”
In the men’s singles final, Sathish Kumar claimed victory with scores of 21-17, 21-14 against Zhu Xuan Chen from China. The 23-year-old had previously secured the Odisha Masters Super 100 title last year, marking this as his second title at this tier on the World Tour. Notably, in an event featuring numerous Indian competitors, Sathish Kumar reached the finals by overcoming international opponents: Wang Zi Jun (China), Sholeh Aidil (Malaysia), Saran Jamsri (Thailand), and Wang Zheng Xing (China) sequentially, before defeating Zhu in the championship match.
In the third final showcasing an Indian competitor, the promising Anmol, poised to enter the top 80 of the world rankings, initially took the lead but was unable to convert it into victory, succumbing to China’s Cai Yan Yan with scores of 14-21, 21-13, 21-19. This still represented the best result on the international platform for the teenager, who has experienced a breakthrough season beginning with her notable performances at the Badminton Asia Team Championship.
