SportsBadminton
Treesa-Gayatri and Tanvi Sharma reach Denmark Open quarter-finals as Srikanth falls
The Indian women's doubles pair beat Indonesia's fifth seeds in Odense, and Tanvi avenged Sindhu's defeat by beating Yvonne Li. Kidambi Srikanth let a lead slip in the decider against Alex Lanier.
Key points
- Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat fifth seeds Rachel Allessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum 21-16, 21-17.
- Tanvi Sharma beat Yvonne Li, who knocked out PV Sindhu, and now faces world No. 1 An Se Young.
- Kidambi Srikanth led 15-13 in the decider before losing to eighth seed Alex Lanier.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand knocked out Indonesia’s fifth seeds and Tanvi Sharma beat the player who ended PV Sindhu’s tournament, giving India two quarter-finalists at the Denmark Open in Odense on Thursday.
On a day that began with India’s best-known names already gone, the women’s doubles pair produced the result of the week. Treesa and Gayatri, ranked 18th in the world, beat Rachel Allessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum 21-16, 21-17 in 45 minutes. They trailed 9-11 at the first-game interval before pulling away, and held their nerve through a tight second game.
It was their second comeback of the tournament. On Wednesday they had been 11-15 down in the opening game against Chinese Taipei’s Yan Fei Chen and Hsieh Pei Shan before winning 22-20, 21-14. Hsieh is ranked 12th in the world in doubles.
Next they meet Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan for a place in the semi-finals of the Super 750 event.
Tanvi settles a score
Tanvi beat Germany’s Yvonne Li 21-17, 21-19 in women’s singles. Li had beaten Sindhu 13-21, 25-23, 21-19 in the opening round on Tuesday, and Tanvi, who also had the better of their only previous meeting, kept her calm when the second game tightened.
Her reward is the hardest draw in the sport: a quarter-final against South Korea’s world No. 1, An Se Young.
Srikanth lets it slip
Kidambi Srikanth, the 2017 champion and India’s last man standing in singles, ran away with the first game against France’s eighth seed Alex Lanier, winning it 21-11. Lanier came back to take the second 21-15, and in the decider Srikanth led 15-13 but did not win another point, losing it 21-15. The match lasted 66 minutes.
Ashmita Chaliha’s run also ended against Japan’s third seed Akane Yamaguchi, who won 21-18, 21-10.
India’s men had a week to forget. Lakshya Sen went out in the first round, Ayush Shetty lost in three games to Indonesia’s Alvi Farhan after levelling the match at one game all, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the fifth seeds, lost their opener to a pair ranked 37th. Sindhu also fell at the first hurdle.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Rutuparna and Swetaparna Panda lost 14-21, 14-21 to China’s Bao Li Jing and Cao Zi Han, and Devika Sihag went down 13-21, 14-21 to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong. Unnati Hooda had already gone out in the first round, beaten 21-23, 21-16, 16-21 by China’s Han Qianxi in a match of more than an hour.
That leaves Treesa, Gayatri and Tanvi carrying India’s hopes into the last eight of one of the biggest tournaments on the World Tour calendar.