Macau Open 2024 badminton: Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand rally ...

Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s doubles event at the Macau Open 2024 badminton on Tuesday.

Competing at the Macao East Asian Games Dome in Macau China, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, seeded third, defeated the unseeded Japanese pair of Akari Sato and Maya Taguchi 15-21, 21-16, 21-14 in the round of 32 contest.

The world No. 24 Indian badminton pair was stunned when their 149th-ranked opponents won nine consecutive points and headed into the mid-game interval with an 11-3 advantage. Although Treesa and Gayatri closed the gap as the game progressed, they ultimately could not turn the tide and lost the first game.

Treesa and Gayatri came out strong in the next two games. The Indian duo led 11-4 and 11-5 at the mid-game breaks in the second and third games, respectively and sealed the contest in 59 minutes.

Commonwealth Games medallist N Sikki Reddy teamed up with Ruthvika Shivani Gadde in the women’s doubles and progressed to the main round of the BWF Super 300 event from the qualifiers. The Indian duo got the better of Cheung Yan Yu and Wing Chi Chu 21-10, 21-15 in just 29 minutes.

In the men’s singles, Alap Mishra was the only Indian player to progress past the qualifying rounds. He defeated Thailand’s Korakrit Laotrakul 22-20, 21-3 before securing a 21-10, 24-22 victory against compatriot Aryamann Tandon. Tharun Mannepalli and Darshan Pujari missed out.

All Indian badminton players who took part in the Paris 2024 Olympics, including PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen are not competing at the Macau Open. Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth will be in action on Wednesday.

The Macau Open 2024 badminton tournament will conclude on Sunday.