Leading Odisha shutters, Rutaparna Panda and her younger sister Swetaparna Panda kept improving upon their World rankings by winning the womens doubles gold medal at the BWF Uganda International Series 2023, which was held at Lugogo Sports Complex in Kampala, Uganda from October 5 to 8.

The top-seeded Panda sisters beat Ugandan opponents Fadilah Shamika Mohamed Rafi and Tracy Naluwooza in the final 21-13, 21-8. Starting the campaign with a first-round bye, the Odisha duo reached the final, defeating Ugandan pair of Harshni Hirani and Harshita Singh 21-6, 21-5 in quarterfinals and Husina Kobugabe and Gladys Mbabazi 21-9, 21-8 in the semifinals.

This was the second international gold medal of the month for the Panda siblings, who had claimed the previous one at the Kampala International Future Series, also in Kampala earlier on October 1.

The Cuttack pair has been playing international tournaments in regular intervals this year in order to improve their world rankings. Rutaparna and Swetaparna have bagged four gold, one silver and one bronze in international tournaments this year.

The sisters were occupying 67th position in womens doubles World Rankings with a total 19,755 points as per the Badminton World Federation (BWF), which was last released on 3 October 2023. At the previous tournament in Kampala they had earned 1700 points.
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PHOTO: Rutaparna and Swetaparna express their happiness after winning the doubles title at the Uganda International Series in Kampala on 8 October 2023.