Ashwini Ponnappa aims for medal at Jakarta World Championships

BENGALURU: High on confidence after commanding performances at the US Open and Canada Open Grand Prix Gold tournaments in June, Ashwini Ponnappa is leaving no stone unturned in her preparation for Jakarta World Championships next week.
The doubles shuttler had her partner Jwala Gutta drop by in Bengaluru for a couple of days last week for brief training stint before returning to train in Hyderabad with her coach SM Arif.Ashwini, who is training with Indonesian coach Yusuf Johari at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, said she is targeting nothing less than a medal at the prestigious tournament.
"Preparations have been going well. Jwala was here (Bengaluru) to train briefly and we got in a couple of good training sessions. This time, we're also seeded at the Worlds. I think the last time an Indian pair was seeded was Jwala and Diju," Ashwini said on the sidelines of a felicitation function organized by Karnataka Badminton Association on Tuesday.
With a bye in the first round, Ashwini and Jwala will be up against either a Chinese Taipei or Canadian pair next. "The second round will be tricky. We've always had tough matches against Chinese Taipei. It's important that we take one match at a time. Our Canada win will be a big boost for us," she said.
The appointment of specialist doubles coach Tan Kim Her by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) was a major bonus for the country's doubles shuttlers, felt Ashwini. "We managed so far because Jwala and I are good at doubles and we understand each other well. Now thanks to a doubles coach, he will get the two of us to train together, whenever he takes charge. Ideally we're looking at a centre which avoids all academies and has a separate camp just for doubles players," she said.
Both shuttlers are on a month-long break, opting to focus on their training for a packed calendar after the World Championships. "This is the only slot we had to train. We have really packed schedule until December. The idea is to play as many tournaments as possible to improve ourselves in time for the Rio Olympics next year," the 25-year-old Kodagu player said.
KBA felicitates shuttlers
Meanwhile, the KBA felicitated Karnataka doubles shuttlers D Guruprasad, S Venka tesh Prasad, K Jagadish Yadav and S Sanjith for their display in the All England Championships. The quartet was rewarded with cash awards of Rs 25,000 each. Ashwini was presented a cheque of Rs 50,000 for her Canada Open title.
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