NEW DELHI: Olympic-bound shuttlers Jwala Gutta and V Diju on Friday crashed out of the Singapore Open Super Series — their last tournament before London Olympics — after going down fighting to second seeds Hung Ling Chen and Wen Hsing Cheng of Chinese Taipei in a thrilling three-game quarterfinal.
The sixth seeded Indian pair suffered 21-13 14-21 17-21 loss to Cheng and Chen in a 45-minute mixed double match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.The world number 14 Indians were off the mark in a rollicking style as they dominated the first game and didn’t allow the Chinese Taipei rivals any chance after opening up a 4-0 lead initially.However, the world No 5 pair made a strong comeback in the second game as they surged ahead to 4-1 and even though the Indians clawed back at 6-6, Cheng and Chen broke off and held their ground to make the match 1-1.The decider turned out to be a rollercoaster ride as both the pairs gave their best and moved neck and neck from 5-5 to 12-12, before the Chinese Taipei duo reeled off four points and eventually sealed the issue.Jwala and Diju had lost in the second round of the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier last week. PTI