Bhubaneswar, August 11: Odia ace shuttlers Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda have earned pride for Odisha and India by striking a gold medal in an International Doubles series on Friday.
The duo aced the BWF Tajikistan International Series meet with the gold medal in women’s doubles at the BWF Tajikistan International Series 2023.
The 24-year-old Rutaparna and her younger sister Swetaparna (18) combined superbly to dismiss the challenge of Azerbaijan pairing of Era Maftuha and Hajar Nuriyeva 21-3, 21-7 in just 20 minutes in the final.
Rutaparna and Swetaparna, who had received a bye in the quarterfinals, got the better of Kazakhstan’s Yeva Butpayeva and Nargiza Rakhmetullayeva 21-10, 21-8 in the last-four stage.
Earlier, the Panda sisters had bagged silver in the APACS Kazakhstan International Future Series meet last June.
