Kuala Lumpur: India suffered a 0-5 thrashing at the hands of formidable China in their opening group match of the Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton championship here. Only P V Sindhu could offer a semblance of a fight in her 21-19, 16-21, 14-21 women's singles loss to Wang Yihan while the four other Indians were outclassed by the Chinese at the Putra Stadium.
The Group A match began with the mixed doubles contest which Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa lost in straight games to the pair of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei 10-21 13-21 in just 29 minutes. In the second tie, P Kashyap was no match for world number two Chen Long, who won 21-11 21-9 in men's singles.
The combine of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra gave a tough fight to Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan in men's doubles before losing 23-25 18-21 while their women counterparts Ponnappa Ashwini and Gadre Pradnya lost 18-21 11-21 in women's doubles. Without Saina, it was going to be tough for India but Sidhu displayed a brilliant performance against world number Wang Yihan.
Sidhu won the opening game and looked like there could be an upset on the card but the world number 13 Indian lost the plot later on to go down fighting in one hour and six minute match. World number 11 Kashyap were completely outplayed by his world number two Chen Long in the 33-minute match in which the Chinese was ahead in all departments of
05:30 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: The newly formed Indian women's doubles team featuring Ashwini Ponnappa and Pradnya Gadre defeated England's pair of Lauren Smith and Gabrielle White 19-21, 22-20, 21-11 to enter the second round of India Open here on Wednesday. In another match, Jwala Gutta and Prajakta Sawant lost to Misato Aratama and Megumi Taruno of Japan 19-21, 10-21 to crash out of the event. Ponnappa and Gadre made some unforced errors...
03:49 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Saina, who turns 23 on March 17, was overtaken by World Champion Yihan Wang in the women's singles rankings. ...
05:18 PM, Mar 07, 2013
Sourabh prevailed over Brice Leverdez 22-20 23-21 in a 40-minute battle and will now take on Rajiv Ouseph, the top seed in the qualifiers. ...
10:33 PM, Mar 05, 2013
Jwala had taken a break after the London Olympics and for the last two months, has been working out to get back in shape for All England. ...
12:33 PM, Mar 02, 2013
Saina Nehwal's hard work over the years was rewarded by a perfectly-timed stroke of luck as she clinched a historic bronze medal in the London Olympics to cover new ground for Indian badminton in a mostly successful year. ...
04:38 PM, Dec 23, 2012
Odense: Mixed doubles shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and Tarun Kona bowed out of the Denmark Open Super Series Premier, losing in straight games in the first round here. The Indian duo lost to the unseeded Indonesian combo of Markis Kido and Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth 18-21, 15-21 in 28 minutes Tuesday in their first ever clash. Though the first game was a neck-and-neck encounter till 16-all, the World No.43 Indonesian pair surged...
12:31 PM, Oct 17, 2012
New Delhi: Shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa is still in disbelief over her early exit from the London Olympics and criticised the new round-robin format which according to her encouraged "match-fixing" at the Games. Despite winning two out of their three matches in Group B, Ponnappa and her partner Jwala Gutta failed to progress to the quarter-finals amid allegations of match-throwing on other teams. "The round-robin format was ridiculous. It brought about...
04:46 PM, Aug 09, 2012
The Indian badminton pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's appeal was rejected while eight players were expelled in a fixing row at the London Olympics on Wednesday. ...
12:54 AM, Aug 02, 2012
London: After the disqualification of eight female badminton players for deliberately losing their respective doubles matches at the London Olympics, the Indian doubles pair of Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponappa - who made an exit on Tuesday despite winning two out of three matches - is likely to be reinstated and can replace one of the disqualified pairs. Players from China, Indonesia and South Korea were disqualified following a formal...
07:43 PM, Aug 01, 2012
London: Rifle shooter Gagan Narang opened the medal count for India at the London Olympics by winning a bronze on Monday, and hopes for more laurels were still alive with Indian stars doing well in badminton and tennis. Badminton star Saina Nehwal got the better of Belgian Lianne Tan to enter the women's singles pre-quarterfinals while the doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta stayed in the competition with...
11:22 AM, Jul 31, 2012
London: The Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Chinese Taipei's Wen Hsing Cheng and Yu Chin Chien 25-22, 16-21, 21-18 in a group B match in 55 minutes. This win keep their hopes alive of making it to the knockout round. Jwala and Ashwini made a fast start surging to an 11-6 lead but some loose play by the duo allowed their opponents to comeback into the...
02:13 AM, Jul 31, 2012
London: Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa lost their opening group match to the Japanese duo of Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa at the London Olympics badminton tournament here on Saturday. The Indian pair was thrashed 16-21, 18-21 in 45 minutes in their Group B match being played at the Wembley Arena. Jwala and Ashwini had won the World Championship bronze at the same venue here...
09:19 PM, Jul 28, 2012
The Indian shuttlers have decided to give the Olympics opening ceremony a miss to concentrate on their doubles match the next day. ...
09:41 AM, Jul 26, 2012
Jwala Gutta is the second most famous name in Indian badminton right now after Saina Nehwal. She is big, she is strong and she is one of the contenders to get a medal for India in the doubles categories at the upcoming Olympics in London. Standing 5ft 10in, Jwala is a force both in women's doubles and mixed doubles. Though she has been playing for a long time, the 28-year-old...
04:29 PM, Jul 19, 2012
The last Indian contingent that includes badminton star Ashwini Ponnappa and archer Jayanta Talukdar has left for the London Olympics. ...
09:46 AM, Jul 16, 2012
The badminton team of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa hopes to repeat its 2010 CWG gold medal-winning feat at the 2012 London Olympics. ...
09:41 AM, Jul 16, 2012
Hyderabad: Badminton ace Ashwini Ponnappa, who will be among five shuttlers carrying India's medal hopes at the London Olympics, is excited to be playing her first Olympics. "I am very excited that for the first time I am going to the Olympics. Every sportsperson dreams of representing his or her nation at the Olympics. I am really happy that I have been given the opportunity to represent the country," the...
05:44 PM, Jul 09, 2012
