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.
The match witnessed a gigantic shift of momentum as Erfje-Selena grabbed 10 consecutive points that not only helped them equalise but also enabled them to hold a one-point advantage at 16-15.
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.
“It feels great to stand on the wining podium. Hoping to continue the performance and keep up the run,” Jwala, 31, who was playing with a strapped right knee, wrote on Facebook.
“It’s a great feeling and I would like to thank you all for the tremendous love and support. It keeps us motivated.”
Ashwini, 25, was also elated as she won the first Grand Prix title with Jwala.
The Coorgi shuttler wrote on Facebook: “We did it!!! yayy!! And we’ll continue doing it!! ?#?stronger? # sharper ?#?women? power !!!!.”
–IANS