Newly formed women’s doubles pair Arathi Sara Sunil and Rutaparna Panda continued to impress as they downed third seeds Vivian Hoo and Yap Chen Weng in three games in the quarter-finals of the Tata Open India International Challenge in Mumbai on Friday.
Arathi and Rutaparna looked completely out of sorts in the first game as they went down 13-21 but then managed to turn it around to win the next one 24-22, and the decider 21-19 to make the semi-finals. The match, against the world No 43 pair, lasted an hour and 10 minutes.
The Indian pair, ranked 116th in the world, started off looking to engage Hoo and Weng in rallies. However, they weren’t able to match the Malaysians in rallying and lost the first game comfortably.
As the second game began, Arathi and Rutaparna went back to their preferred attacking style of play. There were smashes galore at the Cricket Club of India on Friday evening as Rutaparna set up Arathi, who took charge of the back court, to go for the big hits.
The Indians even grabbed four game points for themesleves in the second game, at 20-16, but lost all of them, and then two more, before managing to close it out and force a decider.
It was a tight third game again but Arathi and Rutaparna managed to keep a gap of two-three points above the Malaysians for most of it. Again, in the end, they had three match points but lost two of them to make it a nail-biting finish. The Indians eventually managed to convert the last match point to seal a spot in the semi-finals.
“We need to cut down on our mistakes,” said Arathi after the match. “Whenever we lose, it’s because we make too many mistakes.”
Arathi and Rutaparna started playing together only in May because Rutaparna’s partner Mithula UK sustained a long-term injury on her wrist and had to undergo surgery. Since then, the two have qualified for and represented India at the Asian Games, and then won the Hellas Open title in October.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, Arathi and Rutaparna will take on top seeds Meghna Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram, ranked 32nd in the world. “We have beaten them before, so we are confident,” said Arathi.
Another newly formed Indian doubles pair, Sumeeth Reddy and MR Arjun, also reached the semi-finals, after beating Saurabh Sharma and Rohan Kapoor 21-11, 21-12.
Sumeeth and Arjun are playing together for the first time in a tournament because their regular partners – Manu Attri and Shlok Ramchandran – chose to skip it for personal reasons. The two have clicked really well so far, winning both their matches in this tournament in straight games. They will take on Thailand’s Tinn Isriyanet and Tanuput Viriyangkura in the last four.
Over in the singles, second seed Lakshya Sen booked a spot in the semis after beating Malaysia’s Goh Giap Chin 21-17, 21-10. World junior champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn also eased into the top four, defeating Malaysia’s Teck Zhi Soo 21-16, 21-13.
Sen is the only Indian who made it through to the semis, but there are as many as three of his compatriots in the last four of women’s singles.
Third seed Mughda Agrey, eighth seed Vrushali Gummadi and Dubai International challenge winner Ashmita Chaliha are all in the semi-finals.
