German Open badminton 2024: Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand lose; India’s run ends in quarter-finals

The Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost to the People’s Republic of China’s Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min in the quarter-finals of the German Open 2024 in Mulheim on Friday.

Jolly and Gopichand, 23rd in the badminton rankings, went down to their 22nd-ranked Chinese opponents 21-16, 21-14 in 41 minutes. With the result, India’s challenge ended at the German Open, a BWF Super 300 event.

The Indian badminton players started the match brightly, leading 8-5 at one stage. The Chinese pair went into the break with a slender advantage at 11-10.

Though Jolly and Gopichand took back the lead at 15-14, the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallists conceded seven of the eight points from there to lose the first game.

With the momentum on their side, Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min dominated the second game. Expanding on their initial two-point lead of 8-6, they surged ahead, leading 12-6 with four consecutive points. The Chinese pair stayed on track to seal the contest comfortably.

Jolly and Gopichand had faltered at the same stage at the Thailand Open in February. They started their year with the first-round exit at the India Open but played an integral part in the Indian women’s team’s historic gold medal win at the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Busan last month.

The German Open 2024 was the sixth tournament on the 2024 badminton calendar and offered qualifying ranking points to shuttlers for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Tthe Indian badminton players will now be in action at the French Open BWF Super 750 event in Paris next week.