Panda sisters win gold in the BWF Tajikistan International Series 2023

Odisha's Rutuparna Panda and her sister Swetaparna Panda made India proud by winning the gold medal in women's doubles at the BWF Tajikistan International Series 2023. The Panda sisters won the medal by defeating Azerbaijan's Era Maftuha and Hajar Nuriyeva 21-3, 21-7 in just 20 minutes in the final.

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The Panda sisters, who won a silver medal at the APACS Kazakhstan International Future Series meet in June, received a bye into the quarterfinals, defeating Kazakhstan's Yeva Butpayeva and Nargiza Rakhmetullayeva 21-10, 21-8 in the last-four stage.

Rutuparna and Swetaparna are the first ever Indian sister duo to win an international title in badminton. Ranked 77th in the world in women's doubles, they are the fourth highest ranked Indian pair after Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand, Ashwini Bhatt/Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Ponappa/Tanisha Crasto. It was only last year that the sisters started playing together after Rutuparna, who would partner with Tanisha Crasto earlier, moving out of the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad to partner her teenaged sister instead.

The Panda sisters have been training at the indoor hall constructed six years ago by their father near their house in Cuttack. From being ranked 570th in the world when they started playing as a duo last year, they have now jumped to 77th.

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BWF Tajikistan International Series 2023 is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament. This is part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). In terms of world ranking points, these tournaments are ranked after World Championship, World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, Super 100 and International Challenge.