Badminton, Syed Modi International: Ponnappa-Crasto lose to Japan’s Iwanga-Nakanishi in final

The Indian badminton women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto went down fighting 14-21, 21-17, 15-21 against Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in the women’s doubles final at the Syed Modi International in Lucknow on Sunday.

Ponnappa-Castro started the match strongly but after being level 12-12, the Japanese pair carried forward the momentum to win the first game 21-14.

The Indian duo bounced back in the second game to take a 11-9 lead at the interval. Ponnappa and Castro then carried forward the momentum to win the second game 21-17 and force a decider.

In the decider, the Indians were down six points and the Japanese held on to their nerves to take a 11-8 lead in the interval. Eventually, it was the Japanese who prevailed to win the game 21-15.

Ponnappa-Castro, who finished with silver in Lucknow, are the only Indian women’s doubles pair this year to reach two finals in BWF World Tour as they also emerged victorious at the Abu Dhabi Masters 2023 in October.

Earlier in the tournament, the seventh-seeded Indian pair reached the final after their opponents and top seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota retired mid-way from the match with an injury.

Ponnappa and Crasto were trailing 10-11 when Hirota slipped and...

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