Jwala-Ashwini win Canada Open

India’s most successful women’s doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were crowned champions in the $50,000 Canada Open Grand Prix following their 21-19, 21-16 victory over Dutch pair Eefje Muskens and Selena Piekof in the final here.

The 2011 World Championships bronze medal-winning pair took only 35 minutes on Sunday to get the better of Erfje-Selena at the Markin MacPhail Centre.

The Indian third seeds, who matched their career-best ranking at No.13 on Thursday, caught a very good start as they took a 6-2 lead even though Erfje-Selena fought back and equalised at 7-7. The Dutch top seeds later were on a roll and wrestled back the ascendancy till the 17-point mark and Jwala-Ashwini were forced to play catch-up game.

The Indians succeeded in equalising at 17-all and sealed the game as the world No.8 Dutch pair remained at 19 points. In the second game, 2010 Commonwealth Games champions played an attacking game and raced to an 8-2 lead that later swelled to 15-6.

However, after the Dutch pair’s show of might, Jwala-Ashiwni swung the momentum back in their favour and the 2014 Asian Championships bronze medal-winning pair snatched six points on the trot to bag the game and the match. The pair got $3,950 for winning the title.

Telangana CM lAUDS PAIR

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday congratulated Indian women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa for winning the Canada Open title. The victory of the shuttlers would be a motivation for sportspersons, he said in a release.