Brazil International: Tarun Kona and Saurabh Sharma reach final

The newly formed Indian men’s doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Saurabh Sharma continue their winning streak as they made it to the final of the 33th Brazil International Badminton Cup 2018 in Foz do Iguazu, Brazil on Saturday. The unseeded pair took 41 minutes to get the better of fellow unseeded team of Solis Jonathan and Rodolfo Ramirez 21-13, 21-15 in the semi-finals of this International Challenge tournament.

Kona and Sharma have a tough task up next as they face the top seeds Jason Anthony Ho-Shue and Nyl Yakura in the final.

Sharma had double delight as he also reached the mixed doubles final, partnering Anoushka Parikh. The second seeds carved out a comfortable 21-15, 21-11 win over the Brazilian combine of Matheus Voigt and Lohaynny Vicente.

In the final, Sharma and Parikh will face the top seeds Evgenij Dremin and Evgenia Dimova of Russia.

In the other matches of the day involving Indians, the third seeded Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka’s run came to an end in the semi-finals. The fast-rising 15-year-old succumbed to a 17-21, 14-21 defeat to the second seeded Sabrina Jaquet.

Giant killer Harshit Aggarwal also failed to continue his winning run and went down 17-21, 21-23 to the fifth seed Sergey Sirant of Russia. Aggarwal had earlier accounted for the fourth seed and the seventh seed in the second round and quarter-finals respectively.

Kona and Sharma aim for third title

Kona and Sharma will look to win their second title in as many weeks. Last Sunday, they triumphed at the Jamaica International, where they upset the top seeds in the semi-finals. It was the second career title for the pair, who have joined forces only in November.

They had earlier won the South Africa International in December.

This week they have dropped only one game in their three matches en route to the final of the Brazil International. It was against the second seeds Evgenij Dremin and Denis Grachev, whom they beat 21-14, 19-21, 21-15.