Jwala Gutta and Diju Valiyaveetil's dreams of winning their first Grand Prix gold went up in smoke as the Indian mixed doubles pair suffered a straight games defeat against Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa of Indonesia in the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open final in Hyderabad on Sunday. The error-prone second seeded Indian pair lost 14-21, 17-21 to the third seeded Indonesians.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her second match to keep her semi-final hopes alive while the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju also tasted victory to stay afloat in the World Super Series Masters Final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Thursday.
Brimming with confidence after becoming the first Indian mixed doubles pair to win a Grand Prix Gold title in Chinese Taipei, Jwala Gutta and V Diju have now set their eyes on cracking the top-five of world ranking by the year end.
Shuttlers Jwala Gutta and V Diju on Sunday created history by becoming the first Indian mixed doubles pair to win a Grand Prix Gold in Chinese Taipei.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has jumped one place to the eighth spot, while a place in the finals of the Indian Open Super Series catapulted the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju to the elite top 10 bracket.
But Chatan Anand crashed out in the first round at the All England badminton championships.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal survived a scare in her campaign opener as she struggled past Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri in an energy-sapping three game thriller at the Indonesian Super Series Premier in Jakarta on Tuesday.