BWF World Tour Finals: Treesa-Gayatri stun world number six duo, keep semis hopes alive

The Indian women's doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand registered a stunning victory over the world number six Malaysian pair of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan at the ongoing Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, on Thursday, keeping their hopes of advancing to the next round alive.

Treesa and Gayatri defeated the Commonwealth Games gold medallists 21-19, 21-19 in 46 minutes, climbing to second place in Group A. Leading the group is the Chinese duo of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, who defeated the Indian pair on Wednesday, according to Olympics.com. This victory marked only the second win for Treesa and Gayatri against Pearly and Thinaah in eight encounters.

The Indian pair will next face Japan's Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in a virtual knockout match, with a spot in Friday's semifinals at stake. In their four previous meetings, the Japanese duo have emerged victorious on three occasions.

In their match against Pearly and Thinaah, Treesa and Gayatri started strongly, taking an early 6-2 lead before the Malaysians fought back to secure an 11-10 advantage at the halfway mark. However, the Indian duo regained composure and led 19-17, holding their nerves to clinch the first game.

In the second game, the Malaysian semifinalists from the 2024 Paris Olympics initially led 8-5, but Treesa and Gayatri fought back, taking a 14-12 lead. With the scores tied at 19-19, the Indians secured two crucial points to seal the match, achieving their first-ever win in the BWF World Tour Finals.

Treesa and Gayatri are only the second Indian women's doubles pair, after Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy, to compete in the BWF World Tour Finals. They are also India's sole representatives in the tournament this year. The BWF World Tour Finals, the season-ending tournament, began on December 11 and will conclude on December 15. (ANI)