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Jwala Gutta bags double in Bulgarian GP
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October 12, 2008 19:30 IST

Jwala Gutta clinched the women's doubles and mixed doubles titles at the Bulgarian Grand Prix badminton tournament in Sofia on Sunday.

Jwala first combined with V Diju to win a successive Grand Prix title. They defeated the fifth seeded Indonesian pair of Fran Kurniawan and Shendy Puspa Irawati to clinch the mixed doubles title.

The Indian duo overcame initial hiccups and rallied to pip the Indonesian pair 15-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a 45-minute contest.

The pair had won the Bitburger Grand Prix mixed doubles title in Saarbruecken, Germany [Images], last week, which catapulted them to World No 55 in the latest ranking.

There was more good fortune for the 25-year-old Jwala. She paired with Shruti Kurian to thump the second seeded Indonesian duo of Irawati and Meiliana Jauhari in straight-games to bring home her second title of the day.

The world No 26 pair, which also has the distinction of winning the National doubles crown seven times, spanked Irawati-Jauhari 21-11, 21-19 in just 28 minutes.

Jwala said she was very happy on the twin triumph and gave credit to her coach S M Arif.

"I am very excited, very happy and I want to thank my coach S M Arif for his constant support," she said.

"We lost the first game. I was actually not at my best but Diju played really beautifully. We decided we won't go into defensive mode and kept attacking, which eventually paid off," Jwala added.

However, Jwala says it was her performance in the doubles match that was more satisfying.

"But the doubles match was very satisfying. We were coordinating well and the Indonesian pair had no clue; they just could not understand what was happening," she said.

Asked what is her next target, Jwala said she just wants to concentrate on her game and not bother about the ranking.

"I am not bothered about ranking. I just want to focus on performance and do well. I am playing well, the defence, the attack, everything is coming well," she said.

"However, I think I need to be more consistent and work on my mental aspect of the game. More confidence is needed and I think winning these titles have given me a lot of confidence now," she said.



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