Guwahati Masters 2023: Ponnappa-Crasto secure second title as a pair in women's doubles
Dec 10, 2023
Guwahati (Assam) [India], December 10 : The Indian women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto secured the women's doubles title at the Guwahati Masters 2023 badminton tournament on Sunday.
Ponnappa and Crasto, the second seeds in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 100 tournament, beat Taiwan's Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui 21-13, 21-19 to win their second title as a pair, as per Olympics.com.
Earlier this year, they had won the Abu Dhabi Masters Super 100 tournament.
The Japanese duo of Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi defeated Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto in the title decider of the Syed Modi International Super 300 competition, which was held last week in Lucknow.
The first badminton game of the final in Guwahati was a one-way street in favour of the Indian players. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto took over the match once the scores were tied at one. The Indian pair steadily extended their lead before resoundingly finishing the first game to seize the lead.
In the second game, the Indian shuttlers continued where they left off, leading by five points at the half. The Taipei duo, with their backs to the wall, came out strong following the restart, cutting the lead to just one point at 12-11, setting up a mad dash to the finish line.
Following a final score of 19 all, it appeared as though the Indian players were losing ground to Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui. But Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto rallied the home audience and managed to grab the last two points of the game to win the title.
The match ended in 40 minutes. The results of this tournament will count towards the player's qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
-Guwahati Masters 2023 badminton winners list
Men's singles: Yohanes Saut Marcellyno (Indonesia)
Women's singles: Lalinrat Chaiwan (Thailand)
Men's doubles:
Women's doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto (India)
Mixed doubles: Hee Yong Kai Terry/Tan Wei Han Jessica (Singapore).
