CWG 2010 Final Tally : Badminton Medals made the difference

Jwala Gutta found it hard to hold back her tears after she teamed up with Ashwini Ponappa to win India a gold medal in the women’s doubles event. It had been a trying few months for jwala — reports of her break up with Chetan Anand, her alleged ‘liaison’ with a prominent former cricketer had put the shuttler in a tight spot.

But on Thursday, Jwala showed that despite the turmoil, her focus and determination stayed solid as the duo defeated Singapore’s Yao Lei and Sari Shinta Mulia 21-16, 2-19 — becoming the first Indian women’s pairing to win a major title at the international level. The duo have been making steady progress, ever since they teamed up during the Indian Open in Hyderabad in March 2009.

In the first game, it was Ashwini’s stinging smashes which created openings for the Indian pair. Time and again, she leapt and landed hard smashes which forced weak returns that were put away at the net by Jwala.

The Indian pair opened up a 6-3 lead and went on to pocket the opening game in 18 minutes. But the second game saw Yao and Shinta raise the level of their game considerably. They were able to read and better return Ashwini’s smashes. Jwala began to make mistakes at the net as well. The Singapore pair led 6-2 and 13-7 and it seemed that the match would need a decisive third game.

But Jwala’s experience came into play. Realising that they were playing too fast, she told Ashwini to slow the tempo. The Indian pair then opted to play flat. The tactical change caught the Singapore pair on the wrong foot, as they started making unforced mistakes. Jwala and Ashwini then levelled the game at 16, before prevailing 21-19 and winning the gold.


Later, Jwala felt that the key to the duo’s win was that they complemented each other very well “We complement each other very well. My strong play at the net blends very well with her (Ashwini’s) smashes. She is one of the hardest hitting players on the women's tour and can be really,” said Jwala.

She also felt that the Indian pair was confident about its chances. “We knew that once we won the opening game, we were definitely in with a chance. They (Yao/Shinta) were under pressure. It was clear that if we stuck to our gameplan, we would win,” she said.

Saina's Medal win of with the scoe line 19-21, 23-21, 21-13 over Wong Mew Choo has made the difference of single gold medal between Indian and England. The crowd erupted into a deafening roar as Saina became the first Indian woman shuttler to win gold at the CWG.