Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Reach Macau Open Semifinals
In Macau, China, the Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who are Commonwealth Games medalists, will compete in the semifinals of the Macau Open on Saturday. They will face the Chinese Taipei pair, Hung En-Tzu and Hsieh Pei Shan, who are ranked 54th in the world.
On Friday, Treesa and Gayatri, ranked 23rd in the world and seeded third in the competition, defeated the sixth-seeded pair Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Jhih Yun in just 39 minutes with scores of 21-12 and 21-17. Despite a slow start, they led 11-7 by the middle of the first game and won comfortably. In the second game, they were trailing 9-11 at the halfway mark but leveled the scores at 14-14 and won the game and match easily.
This victory marks their second win over Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Jhih Yun in two matches. Although Treesa and Gayatri reached the semifinals of the Singapore Open in June, they have yet to win a trophy this year.
In other news, Kidambi Srikanth, who returned to the sport after an injury during the Singapore Open in May, was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Macau Open. He lost to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long with scores of 21-16 and 21-12. Despite fighting back to make it 15-15 in the first game, Kidambi lost four successive points and could not recover. This was his fifth loss to Angus in nine matches. Kidambi, a former world number one and World Championships silver medalist, reached the semifinals of the Swiss Open in March but has struggled to advance beyond the pre-quarterfinals in nine tournaments this year.
The Macau Open will continue until Sunday.
Doubts Revealed
Treesa Jolly -: Treesa Jolly is an Indian badminton player who plays in women’s doubles events.
Gayatri Gopichand -: Gayatri Gopichand is another Indian badminton player and the daughter of famous badminton coach Pullela Gopichand.
Macau Open -: The Macau Open is a badminton tournament held in Macau, a region in China.
Semifinals -: Semifinals are the matches before the final, where the winners go on to compete for the championship.
Chinese Taipei -: Chinese Taipei is another name for Taiwan, a country near China.
Kidambi Srikanth -: Kidambi Srikanth is a well-known Indian badminton player who plays in men’s singles events.
Commonwealth Games -: The Commonwealth Games is a big sports event where athletes from countries that were once part of the British Empire compete.
Angus Ng Ka Long -: Angus Ng Ka Long is a badminton player from Hong Kong, a region in China.