Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa move into the second round of the US Open Grand Prix Gold

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa off to a winning start

The Indian women’s doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa progressed through to the second round after beating Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nakahara of Japan in straight games 21-16 21-14 in 29 minutes.

Game 1 saw the Indian pairing take an early 3-0 lead but the Japanese pair fought back brilliantly to win 7 out of the next 8 points to take a 7-4 lead, The game drifted back-and-forth after that until both players reached a deadlock at the 11-11 mark.

This is where Gutta and Ponnappa took control, first winning 2 points straight and then backed that up with 3 more consecutive points to take a 16-13 lead. They managed to hold on to that advantage for the remainder of the game to take it 21-16.

Game 2 started off on a topsy-turvy note with both players going neck-and-neck, but the important turn arrived at the 7-7 mark, when the Indian pairing, first won 2 points straight and then followed that with 3 more consecutive points to take a 12-8 lead.

That advantage was never given away to their opponents after that as they won 9 out of next 15 points, that included 2 streaks of 3 points each to romp home and move into the second round.

They will take on Ozge Bayrak and Neslihan Yigit of Turkey in Round 2.

Final Scoreline- Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa beat Mayu Matsumoto/ Wakana Nakahara 21-16 21-14