Jwala-Ashwini win but fail to enter quarterfinals

London: India’s women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up a comfortable straight-game victory over Lei Yao and Shinta Mulia Sari of Singapore in their last group B match but still failed to enter the quarterfinals of the London Olympics. The Commonwealth Games gold medallists saw off the world number 13 Singapore pair 21-16 21-15 in a 34-minute match at the Wembley Arena here. However, the Indian pair ended up in the number three position in the group based on the difference between points won and lost in all matches after tying with Chinese Taipei pair of Wen Hsing Cheng and Yu Chin Chien and Japanese combo of Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa here. The world No 20 Indian combo opened up a 11-5 lead in the first game and extended it to 18-10. The Singapore pair tried to come back and made it 19-14, before Jwala and Ashwini earned the game point. [caption id=“attachment_399395” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  India’s women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa. Reuters[/caption] Yao and Sari saved a couple of game points but the Indian pair didn’t make any more mistake and pocketed the first game comfortably. In the second game, the Indian pair surged ahead to a 9-1 lead and although their rivals scripted a fightback, Jwala and Ashwini staved off the challenge to comfortably seal the issue but still failed to enter the knockout stage. PTI