Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly displayed two impressive comebacks during their second-round win at the Thailand badminton Masters Super 300 tournament held Thursday in Bangkok. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were defeated, with Gayatri Gopichand winning against both players, exhibiting remarkable comebacks in victory.
Thailand Open Badminton – Following their victory in badminton Game 1, Ashwini and Tanisha, both 20 years old, fell behind 5-11 in the second game before improving their performance and closing in to lose by 15-20 quickly, which signalled Game 3 would likely decide this contest.
Gayatri-Treesa could stay composed and easily win each encounter by scoring 21-15 and 24-22 victories, propelling them forward into the quarterfinals.
Gayatri provided the impetus for both comebacks. When Ashwini committed an error at the back, Gayatri made an incredible turnaround after midgame intermission to serve back at 5-11 and complete her comeback. Gayatri once more played an impressive frontcourt performance when intercepting the shuttle early to maintain control over rallies before ultimately forcing a mistake from Tanisha at the other side of the net – this time forcing a mistake from Tanisha in the 15th minute!
Gayatri demonstrated why she and Teresa are an ideal pair, working well as partners during two matches over forty minutes of action-packed badminton. Tanisha and Ashwini currently hold the lead for India’s spot in women’s doubles competition at the Paris Olympics; thus, Gayatri-Treesa’s performance could provide them with an effective tool to reclaim it in the coming weeks.
Treesa and Gayatri had something to prove in Bangkok despite still having much work ahead of them, having struggled to find their form since late 2023. Due to an injury Gayatri sustained, they could not compete in the final rounds of last season, ultimately being defeated in the quarterfinals by Tanisha and Ashwini at Syed Modi International Tournament Lucknow. Ashwini and Tanisha began 2016 on an impressive note, winning several vital competitions, such as the Badminton Asia Team Championships and the All-England Open (which they preferred). Additionally, Ashwini and Tanisha made waves with an exceptional showing at the home leg of the Race to Paris competition.
With only minutes remaining in the qualification phase, Gayatri’s dominance in the later portions of this match bodes well for their opponents; she hit three game-winning shots during seven saved game points to help keep them and remain undefeated in competition. As she had done during their initial match point, she once again showed she was the leader at the net. Treesa’s smashes are usually an invaluable weapon when closing out points quickly, while Gayatri typically acts as the steady hand during lengthy rallies. But in this matchup, Gayatri took control of proceedings at a critical juncture when it seemed as though Ashwini and Tanisha might take this match to its conclusion.
Following in their footsteps is often tricky and unnerves people.
Becoming a young athlete when one’s parent is an established sports figure can be daunting for a child, with numerous examples throughout sports history being evidence of this. Gayatri Gopichand – daughter of one of India’s premier shuttlers and trainers, Pullela Gopichand – may well have experienced this firsthand as she has often been identified with that label by fans and observers alike.
By showing she was back, nearing her best in Bangkok, she added an extra element of suspense to the Paris qualification race. Her performance there was the match-winner.
After that, the sixth-seeded players from Japan will face off against two fourth-seeded Indonesian players: Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi – in hopes of earning themselves a place in the semifinals or beyond.
Kidambi Srikanth experienced further disillusionment despite Treesa and Gayatri’s success in renewing Olympic qualifications. Mithun Manjunath’s three-game win against him ended Kidambi Srikanth’s participation in Asian leg competitions without attaining at least a quarterfinal berth.
Due to Lakshya Sen’s dip in form and confidence, Srikanth’s opening victory against Jonatan Christie in Malaysia raised expectations that an upward turn was possible for him. India relies heavily on either one of these men taking charge at the men’s singles competition in Paris; unfortunately for them both, however, Srikanth was eliminated sooner than anticipated from the competition.
Before this match, Mithun had never lost to Srikanth on the international circuit and started strong by winning the first game before Srikanth made a strong comeback and controlled much of the second portion. When it came time for a decisive match, however, Srikanth continued playing catch-up and eventually paid the price for his mistakes that were beyond his control – Mithun, rated 63rd worldwide, achieved victory with 21-9, 13-21 and 21-17 scores en route to an impressive win in only 54 minutes against Mark Caljouw from The Netherlands for final eight-round matchup!
Mithun remains India’s sole survivor in men’s singles competition after Chun-Yi Lin of Chinese Taipei knocked out S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian on Thursday with a score of 9-21, 11-21 in their match against each other.
Ashmita Chaliha of Assam won an unusual quarterfinal spot in an international World Tour tournament’s women’s singles tournament by defeating Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei 21-12, 15-21, 21-17 – an extremely close three-game match that featured left-handed shuttlers from both nations! This unprecedented participation marks an infrequent occurrence and is an incredible achievement by any standard.
Chaliha will next face Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo from Indonesia for her first World Tour quarterfinal since competing at the Odisha Open in January 2022.
Malvika Bansod lamented her inability to win her opening match against Busanan Ongbamrungphan, an opponent widely preferred among local fans, with 22-24 and 7-21 scores.
