India’s famed doubles badminton pairing of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa crashed out of the Rio Olympics in the round-robin stage on Saturday, after losing their final group stage match to Thailand’s Supajirakul Puttita and Taerattanachai Sapsiree in straight sets. The Indian duo had a healthy 2-0 record against the Thai pair, but having lost their previous matches —including a hard-fought match against the Dutch duo of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek— they had little to play for.
For the left-handed Jwala Gutta this was an even bitter loss, as at 32, this could easily be the last Olympics. Soon after the loss of the Indian duo, news articles suggesting that India’s most successful doubles combination should part ways, started circulating. Critics and detractors blamed Gutta for the loss, going as far as calling her a liability on Ponnappa and suggested that the latter should find a younger and fitter partner for the future tournaments.
In-depth analysis of overall game
In the longevity of her career Gutta has been faulted for her relatively poor movement on court, her supposed lack of commitment towards fitness, and at times simply for her age. However, if one was to analyze the Indian duo’s recent matches, its Ponnappa who has proven to be the weaker link. The 26-year, who is known for her robust back-court skills —the most powerful of the smashes— often finds herself lost in the mid-court positions.
Gutta, on the other hand, has always had an affinity for netplay and is considered to be one of the finest front court players of the game. What has been worth noting is the gradual progress that she has made to improve her mobility, defence and back-court skills. The most impressive additions to her game have been the defensive blocks which she uses to avert the most powerful of channel attacks at her, and her rejuvenated smash which turned out to be the more reliable than her partner’s at the Olympics Badminton Center.
Gutta’s smash and incredible defensive shots dug the Indian pair out of difficult match situations, but in the end weren't enough to get them the much-needed match wins. However, these recent improvements have come into light with the introduction of a doubles specialist coach for Indian badminton, a cause that Gutta had been campaigning for years now.
Rise to the top of Indian badminton
Gutta and Ponnappa’s meteoric rise to the top of Indian badminton was marked by the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold and World Championships bronze, but the former was not new to experiencing success. Early in her career, she was ranked in the Top-10 of the BWF Rankings in Mixed doubles with V. Diju, and had brought numerous laurels to the country.
Often drawing comparison from Indian badminton’s poster girl Saina Nehwal (a player who was born in a much more opportune age), Gutta’s accomplishments as a player has often been overlooked. Gutta won a World Superseries Finals Medal (2009), and a World Championships Medal (2011) long before India’s most celebrated shuttler, but, rarely is that taken into account.
Gutta and Ponnappa are still the best doubles pairing in India and have played apivotal role in the rise of the stature of Indian badminton. They led India to two consecutive bronze medals in the Uber Cup, with impressive match victories at the big stage. The performance graph for them has held steady over the years, as it was not up until August 2015, that the pairing peaked in the women’s doubles rankings at no. 10, making Gutta the only Indian to have been ranked in Top-10 of both the doubles categories.
The tough road up until Rio
Gutta has hit major roadblocks in her long career. In 2007, she was dropped out of the national squad for not training at the Pullela Gopichand Academy. She was deemed too old to play at the age of 23, by Gopichand. This majorly hampered her chances of qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but she recovered from the situation and has since lobbied against the national coach running a private academy in the country.
This was just the beginning of the road for Gutta as in 2013, she found herself pitted against the BAI, who recommended a life-ban on her for a mere delay in an IBL match. She refused to apologise to the BAI and moved court against the national association. After a grueling battle, the ban was lifted and Gutta was lauded by the entire sporting fraternity for taking a stand against the hypocrisy of the sporting federations in the country.
Future Prospects
The first half of 2016, has been rough for the Indian pairing, but, by no means does it suggest that they cannot bounce back from a slow start to the season. Kim Tan Her, the new doubles coach has brought several changes into the playing style of the duo, and it’s only fair to give them some time to adapt to them. They have played some of their best matches early in the year, at the Syed Modi and Asian Team Championships, including an absolute stunner against Shin Seung Chan and Jung Kyun Eun.
With the World Championships missing from the calendar of 2016, the Indian pair, and Jwala Gutta more importantly, will have to find her groove in the Superseries events to silent her critics.Gutta has inspired an entire generation of young athletes in the country, and If she continues to fight her battles, we might see her back in Tokyo, yearning for that elusive Olympic medal. She has smashed her way through any obstacles that came in her path of becoming a true champion.
