The Indian badminton pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand got eliminated from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals semifinal chances following a loss to Japan's Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida in their final Group A match in Hangzhou on Friday.
In a must-win match after securing a win and a loss in their previous two matches, the Indian pair lost by 21-17, 21-13 to Matsuyama and Shida, the Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medalists, as per Olympics.com. The 13th-ranked Indian pair in the world rankings will be leaving Hangzhou with some impressive performances. After losing to world number one Chinese pair of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, the Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallists, in a valiantly fought opening match, Treesa-Gayatri beat Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, world number six and reigning Commonwealth Games champions, in the second match, in a shocker. During the opening match against the Japanese, Treesa and Gayatri showcased incredible character, coming back from 18-10 trailing to making the deficit to just two points, 19-17. However, the Japanese managed to hold on to their lead and recorded a win and since then, did not look back at all. Treesa-Gayatri, who captured their second BWF World Tour title together at the Syed Modi International Super 300 in Lucknow, were the only Indians to qualify for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals. The BWF World Tour Finals, the season-ending tournament, began on December 11 and will conclude on December 15. (ANI)
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