Jwala-Diju lose in mixed doubles quarters

India’s mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta lost their quarter-final match at the World Badminton Championships here Friday.

Hyderabad: India’s mixed doubles pair of Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta proved no match for defending champions Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia, losing their quarter-final match at the World Badminton Championships here Friday.

The eighth-seeded Indian pair failed to put up a fight in their 16-21, 14-21 loss to the second-seeds at the Balayogi indoor stadium at Gachibowli. “We had beaten them once before but today they dominated and never gave us a chance. We should have slowed down the game as whenever we played slow we got the points. We should have stuck to it,” Jwala said. “We should have gone for long rallies, but lost patience and gave them some quick points. They used all their experience today.” Jwala and Diju were leading 9-6 at one point in the first game but could not hold onto the advantage. “We started well but they were good at defending. When we played them last time we made them move a lot,” said Diju. IANS