Guwahati Masters Super 100: Ashwini-Tanisha retain women’s doubles crown

Women’s doubles top seeds Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto and men’s singles third seed Sathish Kumar Karunakaran gave the Indian badminton fans a lot to cheer for as they registered straight games wins to clinch the Guwahati Masters Super 100 titles here on Sunday.

Ashwini and Tanisha, the only defending champions to retain the title, defeated China’s Li Hua Zhou and Wang Zi Meng 21-18, 21-12 in 43 minutes final to bag the coveted crown without dropping a single game.

In the last match of the day, Sathish Kumar added a second Super 100 title to his trophy cabinet with a 21-17, 21-14 victory over Zhu Xuan Chen of China. The 23-year-old had won the Odisha Masters Super 100 crown last year and will now head to Bhubaneshwar high on confidence.

This is the second edition of the competition, organised jointly by the Badminton Association of India and Assam Badminton Association with the view of providing much needed exposure to young Indian shuttlers.

India had a shot at three titles on the final day but up and coming Anmol Kharb could not sustain the momentum that saw her win the first game against Chinese Cai Yan Yan and lost the final 14-21, 21-13, 21-19.
India and China finished with two titles each while Malaysian combination of Chia Weijie and Lwi Sheng Hao clinched the men’s doubles crown.

RESULTS:
Women’s Singles: Anmol Kharb (IND) lost to Cai Yan Yan (CHN) 21-14, 13-21, 19-21

Women’s Doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto (IND) bt Li Hua Zhou/Wang Zi Meng (CHN) 21-18, 21-12.

Men’s Singles: Sathish Kumar Karunakaran (IND) bt Zhu Xuan Chen (CHN) 21-17, 21-14

Men’s Doubles: Chia Weijie/Lwi Sheng Hao (MAS) bt Huang Di/Liu Yang (CHN)
20-22, 21-15, 21-17

Mixed Doubles: Zhang Han Yu/Bao Li Jing (CHN) bt Rory Easton/Lizzie Tolman (ENG)
21-15, 21-16