Our immediate target is CWG 2018, says Ashwini Ponnappa's new partner Sikki Reddy

Set to combine with Ashwini Ponnappa for the first time in international circuit, young shuttler Sikki Reddy said the decision was taken keeping in mind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and hoped she would be able to step into the big shoes of Jwala Gutta

Sikki Reddy

New Delhi: Set to combine with Ashwini Ponnappa for the first time in international circuit, young shuttler Sikki Reddy said the decision was taken keeping in mind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and hoped she would be able to step into the big shoes of Jwala Gutta.

"One month back our Malaysian doubles coach Kim Tan Her, Gopi (Pullela Gopichand) bhaiyya, me and Ashwini had a discussion and we decided to pair up. Of course 2020 Tokyo was a reason but that is too far away, four long years, and we want to just focus on the smaller events now," Sikki said.

"We are a scratch pairing so have no ranking. We have to start with smaller events and make our way up. I hope we can gather some good ranking points and then target the super series and big events. 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games will be the immediate targets for us," she added.

Sikki and Ashwini will be playing the Scottish Open (Nov 23-27), Welsh International (Nov 30-Dec 3) and Irish Open Dec 7-10) this year before combining again at the Malaysia Masters (Jan 17-22) and Syed Modi International (Jan 24-29) next year.

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