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No one is born perfect, it takes time, hard work and dedication to reach the level of perfection. The pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who are ranked 11th in the world have seen a lot during the course of their partnership, which can distinctly divided into pre- 2012 London Olympics and post-2012 London Olympics. From winning the Gold medal at Delhi Commonwealth games in 2010 to getting knocked out in the first round of London Olympic games, the duo has been through a number of highs and lows in their seven-year-long career.
Indian Sports ministry included the decorated duo of Gutta and Ponappa in the much highlighted Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme in September 2015, after almost three months of releasing the first list of 39 players. The decision to not include the duo in the list certainly didn't go down too well with the doubles pair, with Jwala coming out in the open and venting out her feelings and saying that chief coach Pullela Gopichand has a personal grudge against her.
Finally, the hard fought battle by Gutta and Ponappa paid off in a positive manner as the duo was selected to receive funding from National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) for training and competition in preparation for Rio Olympics 2016. Apart from getting selected in the TOP scheme, the pair’s wish of getting a world class doubles coach was also completed by Badminton Association of India as the former player and renowned Malaysian doubles coach Kim Tan Her was roped in with a five-year contract.
With less than a year to go for Rio Olympics, it’s high time that the former World Championships bronze medalist pair get their act together and so that they can prove their worth of being included in TOP scheme.
Performance in 2015
The year 2015 has been an average one for Gutta and Ponappa as apart from winning Canada Open Grand Prix in June and finishing up a semifinalist in Indian Open and U.S Grand Prix Gold, they have so far failed to create an impact in the rest of the tournaments.
Although they have reached the pre-quarterfinals in seven of the eighteen tournaments they played this year but the essence of winning or reaching the finals is still missing. They need to up their game and in order to achieve that they need to get past the higher ranked Chinese, Japanese and Korean pairs.
In the recently concluded China Open Superseries tournament, the Indians went down to the 13th ranked Japanese pair of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao in a completely one-sided affair. This was the second consecutive defeat of the Indian pair against the lower-ranked Japanese duo.
With Olympic qualification on the line, Gutta and Ponappa can’t really afford to go down in such matches because losing matches can affect their ranking which can eventually hinder their Olympic qualification. In the Destination Dubai Rankings, Indian pair currently stands at 11th position. The top 8 pairs, who have performed exceptionally well over the year get a chance to play in the Superseries finals.
With just one tournament (Hong Kong Open Superseries) to go, it looks highly unlikely that the Indians will earn a spot to play in Dubai from 9th Dec to 13th Dec.
Future Tournaments
The pair is expected to a play a bunch of tournaments in the early half of next year. Starting from Malaysian Masters and Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in January to All England and Swiss Open in March, star pair will get ample opportunities to improve their form before the Rio Olympics in August.
The combination of Gutta and Ponnappa have the potential to overcome the tough challenges from the higher ranked pairs and they have proved that on a number of occasions. At the World Championships which took place in Jakarta in August, they upstaged the 8th seeds Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda of Japan in the third round whereas in the Championship match of Canada Open they stunned the top seeds Dutch Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in a two game match.
So it’s not about the ability or potential of winning the big games, it’s more about consistency which the Indians lack. They need to be a bit more consistent if they need to send a strong message to the rest of the world. A message which will not only prove the capability of Indians in doubles but a message which will create a fear when they are up against this extremely talented pair.
