Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand of India upset Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in straight games in their second Group A match on Thursday to keep their semifinal hopes alive at the BWF World Tour Finals. The Indian duo, who qualified for the season-ending tournament, defeated their opponents 21-19 21-19 in just 46 minutes to remain in the competition.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Indians lost to world No.1 Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China in their first group match. Treesa and Gayatri fell 20-22 22-20 21-14 against Sheng and Tan, who won silver at the Paris Olympics. The Indians are presently second behind the Chinese and must defeat Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan on Friday to get to the semifinals.
Treesa and Gayatri started aggressively and raced to a 6-2 lead in the first game. Before the Malaysians rallied the game was neck-and-neck from there. However, the Indians maintained their composure in the final stages, winning the first game. The second game was a competitive contest until the opening five points when the Malaysians established a little advantage. It was a tight battle until 19 points.
But the Indians held their composure and scored two straight points to win the match. Indian badminton has struggled with form. They have failed in numerous events and finished on the podium a few times. Giving up the lead after winning a game is a traditional issue for Indian shuttlers. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) intends to gradually shift away from the culture of private coaching.
They will shift towards group training sessions led by national coaches. This is done keeping in mind the upcoming Olympic cycle progresses. Many Indian badminton players were asked to speak on the subject. But the majority declined, claiming that BAI had not yet notified them. In addition to badminton, there has been much discussion about national versus personal coaches in other sports. Such as boxing, shooting, and table tennis.
