Singapore Badminton Open 2024: Treesa-Gayatri stun Olympic medallists in quarter-finals
The 30th-ranked Indian badminton duo upset Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, world No. 6, in the women’s doubles event.
Badminton
India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand mounted a spectacular comeback in the women’s doubles quarter-finals of the Singapore Badminton Open 2024 to stun the Republic of Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong on Friday.
Treesa-Gayatri, 30th in the world badminton rankings, bounced back from being a game down to beat Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallists Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong 21-18, 19-21, 22-24 in 79 minutes.
The spectacular win over the current world No. 6 pair saw the Indian badminton players advance to their maiden semi-finals of a BWF Super 750 tournament.
Treesa and Gayatri will face world No. 4 Nami Matsuyama-Chihara Sida of Japan in their top-four clash on Saturday.
The contest began with both pairs going toe-to-toe. Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee held a slender 15-14 lead at one point but stepped up to take the first game.
Treesa-Gayatri started the second game on a positive note and led 7-3 at one point. However, their Korean opponents managed to claw their way back and regained a sizeable 18-12 lead.
Despite staring at the brink of elimination, the Indian pair managed to unsettle the sixth-seeded Korean duo by taking five consecutive points to make it 18-17. Treesa-Gayatri kept their composure to secure the second game 21-19 and forced a decider.
The third game played out similarly to the first where neither pair could pull clear of the other early on. Treesa-Gayatri managed to take a crucial 18-15 lead but Kim-Kong restored parity at 19-19 before they were both tied at 21-21.
With the scores tied at 22-22, the Indian shuttlers dug deep and secured two consecutive points to pull off a stunning comeback victory and march into the semi-finals of the Singapore Open.
The Indian duo had earlier beaten reigning All England champions Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee 21-9, 14-21, 21-15 in the second round.
India’s leading singles players PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy were ousted from the Singapore Open in the second round on Thursday. World No. 1 men’s doubles pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy bowed out in the first round.
Treesa and Gayatri are the only Indian badminton players still alive at the Singapore Open.