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Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Commonwealth Games bronze medalists, secured a hard-fought victory over Japan’s Akari Sato and Maya Taguchi in the opening round of the Macau Open 2024 women’s doubles event.
In a thrilling match at the Macao East Asian Games Dome, the Indian pair, seeded third, overcame a first-set deficit to defeat their unseeded Japanese opponents 15-21, 21-16, 21-14. The victory propelled them into the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 300 tournament.
The Indian duo faced a tough challenge in the first game, falling behind early to their Japanese rivals. Despite a late surge, Treesa and Gayatri were unable to close the gap and lost the opening set.
However, the Indian pair bounced back strongly in the second and third games. They dominated from the start, taking commanding leads at the mid-game breaks and ultimately sealing the victory in 59 minutes.
Another Indian women’s doubles pair, N Sikki Reddy and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, also advanced to the main draw of the Macau Open. They qualified by defeating Cheung Yan Yu and Wing Chi Chu of Hong Kong in straight sets.
In the men’s singles, Alap Mishra was the lone Indian to progress beyond the qualifying rounds. He defeated Korakrit Laotrakul of Thailand in the first round before securing a victory over compatriot Aryamann Tandon.
Notable Absences
It’s worth noting that all Indian badminton players who participated in the Paris 2024 Olympics, including PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, are not competing at the Macau Open. However, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth is scheduled to take the court on Wednesday.
The Macau Open 2024 badminton tournament is set to conclude on Sunday.
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