Birmingham ∙ India’s Trisa-Gayatri combination advancing to the semi-finals of the All England Badminton Tournament. Malayalee player Teresa Jolly and Pullela Gopichand’s daughter Gayatri Gopichand defeated China’s Liwen Mei and Liu Xuan in the quarters (21-14, 18-21, 21-12). This is the second year in a row that Tresa-Gayatri partnership has reached the semifinals of All England Badminton. Last year, they had achieved the feat of being the first Indian doubles team to reach the semi-finals of the All England. In today’s semi-final, their opponents are Korea’s Se Sohee and Baek Hane.
In the last 2 matches of the tournament, the Indian players, who advanced by overthrowing the leaders in the world rankings, defeated the Chinese team, who are the current number one in the world tour rankings. A native of Kannur Pulingom, Treesa’s powerful smashes and strategic drops proved decisive in the match. While Gayatri was stationed in front of the net, Tresa continued to attack from the back court and kept her opponents on the defensive.
The Indian team dominated from the start of the 64-minute quarter-final match. Keeping a clear lead of 6-2 and 18-12, Tresa and Gayatri won the game 21-14. The Indian team took a 10-6 lead early in the second game but could not maintain it. The Chinese team fought back brilliantly to extend the match to the third game. In the decisive third game, however, the fight was one-sided. Taking a lead of 13-5 and 18-10, the Indian players reached the victory easily.
English Summary : Treesa and Gayathry to All England Badminton Tournament Semi Final match