PV Sindhu, Jwala-Ashwini assured of bronze

GimcheonKorea Teen sensation P V Sindhu and the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were today assured of bronze medals after reaching their respective semifinals in the womens singles and womens doubles events of the prestigious Asian Badminton Championship here todayWorld number 10 Sindhu took close to an hour to outwit Ongbumrungpan Busanan 1421 2113 2110 to stretch her headtohead record against the Thailand girl to 30 at the Gimcheon Indoor StadiumThe 18yearold who had won the bronze medal at the World Championship last year will next look to avenge her India Super Series loss to Chinas Shixian Wang the twotime reigning All England ChampionIn the womens doubles competition Commonwealth Games gold medallist combo of Jwala and Ashwini who had won the bronze at the 2011 London World Championship and also represented India at the 2012 Olympics today notched up a 2112 2112 win over Malaysian pair of Anscelly Amelia Alicia and Soong Fie Cho in a 40minute matchIn the mens singles R M V Gurusaidutt however suffered a heartbreakThe rising Indian shuttler played his heart out before losing 2422 921 1321 to Liu Kai of China in a match that lasted an hourSindhu faltered with her smashes in the first game and made a few errors as Busanan took the game away to put the Indian on the backfoot before she bounced back brilliantly in the secondDown 810 in the second Sindhu produced cross court smashes and played well at the nets too even as Busanan made a lot of errorsIn the third game Sindhu dominated right from start and comfortably closed the door on her rival Overall it was a good match Sindhu played very well apart from the first game From the second game onwards she was up and her smashes also improved and she dominated the third game National coach Pullela Gopichand told PTISindhus father Ramana was confident that Sindhu would be able to avenge her loss to Shixian tomorrowI am sure she will play well tomorrow and beat Shixian She is world number two but I think Sindhu knows what she has to do he saidIndias top shuttler Saina Nehwal had won the bronze in the 2010 Asian Badminton Championship at Siri Fort Stadium in New DelhiJwala and Ashwini who had snapped their partnership after the London Olympics only to join hands late last year assured themselves of another medal by their performance hereThe duo will next take on Chinas Luo Ying and Luo YuIn the mens singles Guru had a difficult time taming Liu but his determination and grit helped him to eke out a 2422 win in the first game and earn the bragging rightsHowever Guru could not play at the same pace in the second and third game as the Chinese broke the game plan of the Indian to eventually slam the door on himI didnt start well in the second and third game He slowed down the game and kept me at the back most of the time said a dejected GuruAshwini Ponnappa said the win today was a big boost for her and her partner Jwala Gutta It is a great win and a big boost for us We played very well today We just hang in there and dominated the match leading all through We knew it was a matter of time before we get results We knew we just have to practice And more we play we will get better said PonnappaAsked about their next round rival Ashwini said They are a good pair We played against them in Singapore and we lost Lets see We will give our best