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After a strong performance on the BWF World Tour Finals' opening day, Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand have claimed their first win at the event. The duo were up against fourth seeds Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan and pulled off an incredible display to upset the Malaysians.
Jolly and Gopichand are the only Indians to have qualified for the Tour Finals, and the stakes for the youngsters are high. On Wednesday, December 11, they were up against top seeds Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning for the first group-stage encounter. The Indians put up an admirable fight but fell after a three-game battle.
Coming into Thursday's (December 12) clash with Tan and Muralitharan, Jolly and Gopichand were undoubtedly the underdogs. In the two pairs’ seven clashes, the Indians had gotten the better of the Malaysians only once in 2023.
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However, the duo was absolutely on fire today. Their match got off to a tense start, with the two pairs going toe-to-toe, neither able to hold on to the serve for too long. However, the Indians managed to clinch the first game 21-19.
The second game was a similar story. While Tan and Muralitharan were impressive in their shot-making, Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand won 21-19 to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the BWF World Tour 3.
BWF World Tour Finals: Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand set to take on Nami Matsuyama and Chihara Shidu
After their win over Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand will be back in court on Friday, December 13, to take on Japanese fifth seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chihara Shidu. The match will be crucial, as the winner of this encounter will make it to the semifinals of the BWF World Tour Finals.
Matsuyama and Shidu have had a similar run to Jolly and Gopichand at the competition, winning against Tan and Muralitharan, while losing to Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning. However, while the Indians were able to push the World No.1 to the full distance, Matsuyama and Shidu fell to them in straight games without much of a fight.
Before this impending clash at the BWF World Tour Finals, the two pairs have battled four times, with the Japanese having won three of those encounters. However, with the way Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand have been playing in Hangzhou, the duo looks primed to pull off another upset.
