Jwala-Diju in semis

Jwala Gutta and V Diju created history when they became the first Indian mixed doubles pair to reach the semifinals of a Super Series, reports Abhijeet Kulkarni.

Jwala Gutta and V Diju created history when they became the first Indian mixed doubles pair to reach the semifinals of a Super Series when they upset eighth seeds Wijaya Rendra and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia in the Korea Open quarterfinals in Seoul on Friday.

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The world No. 27 pair scored a 21-17, 16-21, 21-9 win set up a last four date with fourth seed Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand. This is the third time that the Indian pair had beaten Rendra and Jauhari combine and had gone on to win the tournament the last two times.

“I hope we will be third time lucky,” gushed Jwala when reminded of their earlier triumphs in the Bitburger and Bulgaria Open GP in October last year.

In fact that particular European tour has brought about a change in the fortune of the national champions who jumped from World NO. 80 to 27 in just three months. “The performance was a huge moral booster and we can ourselves feel the spring in our legs when we take the court now,” Jwala told Hindustan Times from Seoul.

The Indian pair’s performance is commendable since they are playing in only their second Super Series, which is the next rung of competition after the World Championship and Olympics.

Jwala was, however, disappointed at not finishing the tie in straight games. “We were in a hurry to finish the match and made mistakes in the second game.

But in the decider we settled down and had no trouble in bagging the match,” she added.