Calgary (Canada): Rio-bound Indian women's
doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will look to
boost their confidence ahead of the Olympic Games when they
start their title defence at the USD 55,000 Canada Open
badminton tournament, starting here tomorrow.
2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Jwala and
Ashwini didn't have the best results in the run up to the Rio
Olympics and the duo will look to put their best foot forward
when they take the court here with just a little more than a
month to go for the Games.
doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will look to
boost their confidence ahead of the Olympic Games when they
start their title defence at the USD 55,000 Canada Open
badminton tournament, starting here tomorrow.
2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Jwala and
Ashwini didn't have the best results in the run up to the Rio
Olympics and the duo will look to put their best foot forward
when they take the court here with just a little more than a
month to go for the Games.
Jwala and Ashwini had helped India win a second bronze in
Uber Cup in May and also reached the quarterfinals of the
China Masters in April and New Zealand Open in March, beside a
semifinal finish at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in January.
The World No. 16 pair have got a bye in the opening round
here and will clash straight in the quarterfinals.
Another Rio-bound pair -- Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy
-- too will look to sharpen their skills ahead of the Games
when they start their campaign against local combo of Timothy
Chiu and Jason Anthony Ho-Shue in men's doubles on Wednesday.
Among other Indians in the fray, Ajay Jayaram, HS Prannoy,
Sai Praneeth and RMV Gurusaidutt look to lay claim to the
crown in men's singles. It has been a difficult season for all
of them plagued by injuries and bad form.
"It has been tough last few months with injuries. I had
injured my left foot last year and then I suffered an injury
at right foot. I played a couple of matches in public sector.
But I have no targets in this event," Prannoy told.
There will also be some young shuttlers such as Harsheel
Dani and Pratul Joshi.
In women's singles, Tanvi Lad and Ruthvika Shivani will
carry India's charge in the absence of Saina Nehwal and PV
Sindhu, taking on Denmark's Julie Finne-Ipsen and Kyleigh O'
Donoghue of Canada, respectively.
Among others, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar
will also count their chances in the men's doubles event,
while N Sikki Reddy, Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha Ram will
also participate in the tournament.
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