Krishna Prasad/Vishnu Vardhan in Men’s Doubles Finals at Orleans Masters

Krishna Prasad Garaga & Vishnu Vardhan Goud reached their maiden Super 100 Final with an emphatic win over Callum Hemming & Steven Stallwood in Orleans France. Opening the proceedings on Court 2 of the Palais des Sport, the young Indian duo took just 35 minutes to storm into the finals and give themselves a shot at the title on Sunday.

An even opening saw both teams locked in at 5-5 in the opening exchanges before the Englishmen made their move and opened up a healthy lead, halfway through the opening game. But a clutch of points for the Indians brought them right back into the game and put them in the ascendancy with the business end of the game approaching. Leading 16-13, Krishna/Vishnu had the advantage, and they rode it home to take the opening game 21-17.

While the second game had a similar score line, it was the Indians in tthe lead all the way and barely gave Hemming/Stallwood a sniff. Having made a confident start to the second game, the two youngsters remained consistently ahead and will now face the experienced English duo of Ben Lane & Sean Vendy for the title. Lane/Sean had a relatively tougher passage into the finals with a hard-fought win over Indonesians Gautama/Isfahani 10-21 21-16 21-13. 

Elsewhere for the Indian contingent, it was a tad more disappointing as they lost all the other three semifinals. Saina Nehwal looked competitive in the opening game, up until 9-9, but then the Dane opened up a slender lead and never looked back. In the second game, once again Saina made the better start, leading 12-8 at the halfway mark, and looked good enough to force a decider. But once again, a mid-game slump proved too costly as she bowed out 17-21 17-21 in 28 minutes.

In the women’s doubles, Sikki Reddy & Ashwini Ponnappa lost to top seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai 18-21 9-21, in a 37-minute duel. The Indians looked competitive all through the opening but couldn’t quite close the same, and that proved to be their undoing. Having lost the initiative, Sikki/Ashwini faced a much more confident Thai pair in the second and they romped home with ease in the end.

Ashwini Ponnappa returned for her second semifinal of the day with Dhruv Kapila. An even start to the proceedings gave the Indians hope, but halfway through the opening game the Danish pair of Niclas Nohr & Amalie Magelund stepped on the accelerator and never looked back. The second game was a lot more competitive, with Ashwini/Dhruv saving a match point to force a decider. Smarting from losing the second game, the Danish pair came out with a vengeance opening up an 8-1 lead and taking the game and match eventually. The Indian duo lost 9-21 23-21 7-21.