Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa have progressed through to the second round of French Open Superseries after defeating the Malaysian duo of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajonjai 21-15, 21-12, in a little more than half an hour.
The first game started with the Indian pair taking a 3-0 lead. The Malaysians were trying to come back but were not allowed to do so. The Indians took a healthy lead of 9-3 but were left surprised soon after. Kititharakul and Prajonjai came back strongly and tied the scores at 10-10. Then they went on to take a lead of 14-12. However, the Malaysians managed only one more point in the set after that. Gutta and Ponappa came back hard at their opponents after going behind. They went on to win the first set 21-15.
The second set was more of a one-sided affair. After some early sparring, the set was tied at 8-8. But after that, the Commonwealth games gold medalist pair started to express themselves openly. They raced on with the set and left the Malaysian duo dumbstruck. The Indian pair won the set 21-12, and hence the match with it.
Gutta and Ponappa will face the winner of the match between, Marie Batomene/ Emilie Lefel (France) and Eefje Muskens/ Selena Piek (Netherlands), in the next round.