Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis had to retire in the finals
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Indian men’s doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis’s quest to win their third BWF International title in four weeks received a jolt when the Indian pair had to retire in the final of the II Jamaica International 2016 in Kingston on Sunday.
The unseeded Indian combine called it quits after their opponents – the second seeded Belgian pair of Matijs Dierickx and Freek Golinski – wrapped up the opening game 21-19.
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The cause of their retirement is Kona’s swollen knee as confirmed by the 26-year-old on his official Twitter account.
Kona and Francis have had a stellar few weeks when they reached four finals in four consecutive weeks, winning the first two titles at the Guatemala International and the Peru International and losing the next two in Brazil and Jamaica.
At Kingston, they did not drop a game en route to the final, winning two matches in straight games and getting a walkover in the other. Their exertions from their last three weeks clearly had a toll on them which forced the retirement in the final.
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The currently 75th ranked Indian duo, who has made a massive jump in the world rankings, is set to climb even higher and break into the top 70 this week. They will next be in action at the India Open Superseries, beginning March 29.
had to retire hurt wid a swollen knee.time to get back &recover for India open!satisfying 4 weeks#comebackstronger! pic.twitter.com/aP4z2F8p9Q
Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.
Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.
Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.
Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.
When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.
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