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India's women's doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost their opening match in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals to China's top-ranked pair, Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, who are also the Paris 2024 silver medalists, on Wednesday.
The Indian pair, making their debut in the season-ending tournament, were defeated 20-22, 22-20, 21-14, according to Olympics.com. Ranked 13th in women's doubles badminton, Treesa and Gayatri started on the back foot in the first game as their Chinese opponents raced to a 13-8 lead, appearing poised to clinch the opener. However, the Indian duo mounted an impressive fightback, levelling the scores at 19-19 before claiming the game 22-20. The second game featured closely fought exchanges, but the Chinese pair regained control, building a 17-12 lead. Treesa and Gayatri again rallied to level at 18-18, but the Chinese players held their nerve to edge the game 22-20, setting up a decisive third game. In the final game, Liu and Tan utilised their experience to secure an early 11-5 lead. Despite the Indians' best efforts, they could not overcome the deficit and lost the game 21-14, along with the match. Treesa and Gayatri will next face Malaysia's world number six pair, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, the reigning Commonwealth Games champions, on Thursday. Treesa and Gayatri are only the second Indian women's doubles pair, after Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, to qualify for the BWF World Tour Finals. They are also India's sole representatives in this year's edition in Hangzhou. (ANI)
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