India had a good day at the WSF World International Doubles at Marrara, Darwin in Australia on Tuesday as three Indian pairs booked their berths in the semi-finals. The top-seeded women’s doubles combine of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal are already through to the last-four. Joining them are the two mixed doubles teams of Pallikal/Saurav Ghosal and Chinappa/Harinderpal Sandhu.
Chinappa and Sandhu cause big upset
It was the duo of Chinappa and Sandhu who stole the spotlight on the second day of the championships. The fifth-seeded India No. 2 team produced a spectacular show to hold their nerves and upset the top seeds Rachael Grinham and Cameron Pilley of Australia, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 in a marathon 43 minutes.
Riding high on confidence, they sailed through their next match, notching up a comfortable 11-9, 11-5 victory over the Kiwi pair of Campbell Grayson and Amanda Landers-Murphy in 22 minutes.
With the two wins, they are now in second spot in Pool A with 6 points. On Wednesday, they will meet the table-toppers – the Australia No. 2 pair of David Palmer and Donna Urquhart. That meeting will decide the pool standings.
The Indian No.1 mixed doubles pair of Ghosal and Pallikal too did not face any trouble in their Pool B clashes on Wednesday. The two national champions were at their immaculate best as they dismissed the sixth-seeded Colombians Catalina Pelaez and Miguel Angel Rodriguez, 11-4, 11-5.
Their next match against the Welsh duo of Jenny Haley and Joel Makin was slightly tougher but the Indians managed to pull off a victory in straight games – 11-9, 11-7 in 21 minutes. They next meet the table-toppers New Zealand in their final group encounter.
Smooth sailing for Joshna and Dipika
In women’s doubles, the Commonwealth Games gold-winning duo of Pallikal and Chinappa was in sublime form and needed just 14 minutes to beat Malaysians Aika Azman and Min Jie Teh, 11-5, 11-5. This was the last league match for the Indian girls who topped Group A with a flawless three wins in all three matches.
The only disappointment of the day for the Indians came from men’s doubles. Sandhu and Ramit Tandon prevailed over Malaysians Sanjay Singh Chal and Ivan Yuen 6-11, 11-4, 11-10, but had to bite the dust against Australians Palmer and Alexander Zac, 5-11, 8-11.
The results did not help their cause at all. With a total of 1 win and three losses, they finished in fourth place in Pool A and it was not enough for a place in the last-four.
