badminton Doubles gold medallist Ponnappa talks on her partner Gutta'S work ethic

Ponnappa talks on her partner Gutta's work ethic

Badminton doubles gold medallist Ponnappa talksu00a0on her partner Gutta's work ethic

When Ashwini Ponnappa took to the badminton courts of the Siri Fort Complex here for her CWG doubles final against top seed Singaporeans, Sari Shanti Mulia and Yao Lei, she had no clue of the fact that India (36) was one gold medal behind England in the medals tally.

However, what she did know was that her partner Jwala Gutta was all pumped up for the gold medal encounter. "We were focussed on the final. We shut off our minds from everything else and solely concentrated on the match. Jwala told me not to think of the gold medal but to just play my normal game," Ponnappa told MiD DAY at the Games Village yesterday. And right enough, the Indian duo pulled off a straight sets 21-16, 21-19 win over the Singaporeans.

Ponnappa began partnering Gutta about a year ago after the latter split from her partner of 10 years Shruti Kurien. However, Kurien is already feeling at home with her senior partner. "Jwala and I have been together for only a year and half, but she makes me feel so comfortable on court that it's as though we've been together for ages," said Ponnappa.

However, it's not been all smooth sailing for Ponnappa and Gutta in the recent past, given her senior's news-making tendencies. Gutta has made quite a few sensational appearances in the news, having split with husband and India shuttler Chetan Anand and then reports of an alleged affair with former India cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin.

"Jwala is one of the most committed badminton players I have ever come across. In fact, even when all those headlines broke, she never missed even one training session with
me. In fact, she was even more focussed to excel. And that inspired me,"
said Ponnappa.

Foodies
The Coorgi believes the secret to her success with Gutta has been their on-court and off-court camaraderie. "We are both foodies and so, whenever she is in Bangalore, she drops in at my place for a meal and vice versa. Her parents and my parents know us both very well and that creates a family-like atmosphere. Eventually, this helps on court," explained Ponnappa.