Ashwini eyes Olympic participation after Super 100 crown

Ashwini Ponnappa (right) and Tanisha Crasto with their women’s doubles gold medal at the Guwahati Masters on Sunday. Pic/PTI

A sensational run over the last two weeks has given wings to Ashwini Ponnappa's Olympics dreams, and the ace Indian shuttler now wants to continue her fine run in the upcoming bigger tournaments to stay on course for a trip to Paris.

Ashwini, 34, and the 20-year-old Tanisha Crasto secured their third women's doubles title and the second Super 100 crown with a 21-13, 21-19 win over Chinese Taipei's Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui in the final of the Guwahati Masters on Sunday.

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Their exploits in Guwahati will lift them to World No. 23 when the BWF ranking is issued on Tuesday, taking them closer to top 16, which is the cut off mark for the Paris Games. "The goal of course is to play at the Olympics but since we are a new pair, our focus is to do well in every single tournament we are playing, to put up a good show and that is what we are focusing on right now," Ashwini, a two-time Olympian, told PTI.

"I think there are a lot of factors to get to the Olympics, and for us it is important to simplify our journey and focus on our performance, and if we are meant to be in the Olympics, then it's fine."

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