Jwala-Diju earn shot at title of Chinese Taipei Open

India’s mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju scored a thrilling win over Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh to cruise to the final of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold.

New Delhi: India’s mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju scored a thrilling win over Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh to cruise to the final of the USD 170,000 Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold on Saturday.

The world number seven Indian combo survived a scare from the unseeded Malaysian pair before prevailing 21-11, 17-21, 24-22 in an edge-of-the-seat semifinal match. They will fight it out with Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Vita Marissa of Indonesia in Sunday’s final.Hendra and Vita brushed aside compatriots Tontowi Ahmad and Richi Puspita 21-10, 21-16 in the other semifinal. Jwala-Diju had become the first India mixed doubles pair to reach the quarterfinal of the World Badminton Championship in Hyderabad early this month. They had also won the Bitburger Open and Bulgarian Open last year. Bureau Report