The Tour travels to Indonesia for the biggest tournament of the season, the BWF World Championships, on Tuesday, as Team VICTOR players Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Choel return to defend their title.

There’s no better place for the big major breakthrough than the Worlds. That was the case for India’s super stars Ashwini Ponnappa, proudly equipped with VICTOR gears, and her partner Jwala Gutta when they picked up a bronze medal in 2011 at this prestigious tournament and got to a high ranking of world no.13. However, it’s been a tough road with injuries and off-court issues ever since. After four years of persevering and grinding, they are regaining some of their best form following a semifinal showing at the US Open GPG and a victory at the Canada Open GP in June. It’s definitely shaping up nicely that the good friends are due for another breakthrough where it all started.

 

Ponnappa and Gutta are now at a new career high no.12 coming into Jakarta, saying they are targeting nothing less than a medal. “"Preparations have been great. Jwala had a brief stay in Bengaluru before back training in Hyderabad and we’ve got in a couple of good training sessions.” Ponnappa told local newspapers. “Our Canada win will be a big boost for us. This time, we're also seeded at the Worlds, it's very important that we take one match at a time.”