by Ian Marshall, Editor
Kristina Kazantseva and Olga Vishniakova finished in first place in a group organized event ahead of India’s Swastika Ghosh and Manushree Patel; Egypt’s Sarah Elhakem and Hend Fathy concluded matters in third place.
In the contest to determine first place, both outfits entering their ultimate series of fixtures unbeaten, Kristina Kazantseva gave her team the perfect start by beating Swastika Ghosh (11-6, 11-9, 11-9), before Olga Vishniajkova accounted for Manushree Patel (11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8) and a hard fought doubles win ended matters (3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8).
Success for Kristina Kazantseva and Olga Vishniakova, the outcome as anticipated; they commenced matters in the top seeded position; for Anargya Manjunath and Suhana Saini, it was just marginally against the grain, they occupied the no.2 seeded spot.
Safely through the group phase on the first day of action without a blemish; in the main draw it was Indian colleagues whom they beat on the road to gold. In the penultimate round they ousted Radhika Vinay Sakpal and Hardee Chetan Patel, before securing the title at the expense of Yashaswini Deepak Ghorpade and Kavya Sree Baskar.
Anargya Manjunath gave her team the ideal start by beating Yashaswini Deepak Ghorpade (11-8, 11-9, 11-3), Sunana Saini followed suit by overcoming Kavya Sree Baskar (11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7), before a doubles success (11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7) brought matters to a conclusion.
Defeat for Yashaswini Deepak Ghorpade and Kavya Sree Baskar but they could be proud of their efforts; neither the owner of a world ranking, in the penultimate round they had recorded a 3-2 win in opposition to the top seeded Egyptian outfit comprising Farida Badawy and Hana Goda. Mainstay of the win was Yashaswini Deepak Ghorpade, she beat both Farida Badawy (11-9, 5-11, 11-4, 11-5) and Hana Goda (11-8, 11-7, 11-8), whilst teaming with Kavya Sree Baskar to secure the doubles (11-7, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6).
Team events over; the individual competition now assumes centre stage; play concludes on Monday 11th February.
