That will be all for this blog. Their attack & movement stood out all week but up against the defensive might of Baek Ha Na & Lee So Hee, the Indians struggled. The Koreans showed why they are the form pair atm. End of a fine week for Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 10-21 Baek/Lee: Here’s how the second game unfolded.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 10-21 Baek/Lee: Another really long rally but another one that ends with an Indian error. That will be all for the semifinal. Deserving win for the Koreans, a good week ends for the Indians.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 10-20 Baek/Lee: And match points for the Koreans on the back of a Treesa error.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 10-19 Baek/Lee: And double digits in both games. The least the Indians deserved. Good backhand kill by GG at the net.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 9-18 Baek/Lee: Another long rally but this one goes the Indians’ way. They are still doing what they can to engage the Koreans.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 6-17 Baek/Lee: Long, long rally. The Indians do well to stay in it. But the Lee smash is too good in the end. 59 shots that one.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 6-16 Baek/Lee: Lovely crosscourt winner from Baek there.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 6-12 Baek/Lee: Treesa Jolly with a Pearly Tan-esque winner at the net! Lovely crosscourt at the net.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 5-11 Baek/Lee: There we go, finally what Boe has been asking for. Stay in the rallies, trust your defence more, he has said a few times. And post the break in 2nd game, the Indians have played 2 fantastic points. 5-11.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 2-11 Baek/Lee: The pattern must frustrate Boe, says Steen Pedersen on air. The Indians are not quite engaging the Koreans in the rallies. “All in now, trust your defence,” is the message again from Boe at the break.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 2-9 Baek/Lee: The errors are from the Indian end only at the moment. Again a few points where the Indians went for kills.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 2-6 Baek/Lee: Gayatri tries a fancy block that goes well wide. Think that’s the sort of shot that Boe wanted them to avoid. But to be fair to the Indians, it can be frustrating to play the simple lifts when the Koreans are going to keep sending the shuttle back. The Indians lose a review too in desperation. A coaching break more like.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21, 2-3 Baek/Lee: Good start by the Koreans but a good service return by Jolly gets the serve back for the Indians.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21 Baek/Lee:
“Be mentally prepared to play long rallies”: Arun Vishnu
“We have to trust our defence, we are getting frustrated”: Mathias Boe
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-21 Baek/Lee: The Koreans got a good fight from Gayatri-Treesa for the the most part but after a few long rallies Baek/Lee take control of the proceedings to take the lead. 21-10 in the opening game.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-6 Baek/Lee: That is another terrific rally from both pairs and one loose lift from the Indians is it all took for Baek to kill it at the net. Longest rally now, 55 shots.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 10-15 Baek/Lee: The longest rally of the match so far is won by the Indians after some great work by Gayatri to put the Korean defence under pressure. The lead is still very much with the Koreans after that too but the Indians are certainly fighting hard.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 6-11 Baek/Lee: Terrific point by Gayatri in the first rally post interval, powering through the Korean defence.
WD SF, Gayatri/Treesa 5-11 Baek/Lee: The backcourt player needs to follow up better on shots says Boe. No panic yet for the Indians, they are competitive. Just need to find some gaps in the strong Korean formation.
WD SF, Lee/Baek 10-5 Gayatri/Treesa: Bit of a slow start but the Indians have found their footing. The rallies are certainly competitive even though you could feel that the Koreans have the definite physical edge.
WD SF, Lee/Baek 6-3 Gayatri/Treesa: Thought it might be a case the Indians trying to attack and the Koreans showing patience to test their opponents early on but Lee and Baek have come out all guns blazing with their smashes. Uff! Some hitting that. You could hear the power on the audio. The Indians are hanging in there for now... a good rally for the 9th point that goes their way.
WD SF, Lee/Baek 4-1 Gayatri/Treesa: Terrific defence from the Indians as the Koreans go all out attack, but the net cord helps Gayatri put them on board.
WD SF, Lee/Baek 3-0 Gayatri/Treesa: Good start for the experienced Koreans. There has been one long rally, that the Koreans would absolutely love.
Players on court. Warmups done. Here we go.
A quick women’s doubles semifinals preview: Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will be the higher-ranked pair on paper for the semifinal, but again it won’t be straightforward. Lee So Hee is a former world No 2 and has been around forever on the circuit. Baek Ha Na is a former top 10 too. And the two of them have reached TWO finals already this season on the BWF World Tour, winning the title last week at German Open. They are arguably the most in-form women’s doubles pair on the tour right now. This is the first meeting between the two as pairs.
Watch quarterfinal highlights:
Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary of Badminton Association of India:
“Treesa and Gayatri are brilliant and have been playing every game with maturity. The amount of composure they show, even in the most crunch situations, is applaudable. This is their second consecutive semi-final at All England and I hope they continue their impressive run and win the prestigious title.”
Treesa Jolly: “Last time the excitement was so high. We hadn’t even qualified, we were in the reserves list. We wanted to play the All England at least once. But this time we knew we’d get an entry for this tournament, and we’d prepared well. Last year we just couldn’t sleep as we were so excited. But this time feels normal.”
Gayatri Gopichand: “We’re confident that we’re as good as any of the top pairs, definitely. We’re going to give our 100 per cent no matter what, and we’re going to keep fighting till the end. Let’s see what happens.”
Hello all and welcome to our badminton live coverage. It’s semifinals day at one of the biggest events of the year. And for the second straight year, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly have impressed at the All England Open, one of badminton’s most prestigious events.
Recently crowned national champions Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela continued their love affair with the prestigious All England Open. For the second straight year, they reached their second successive women’s doubles semifinal in Birmingham,
On friday, the world No. 17 Indian combination defeated China’s Li Wen Mei and Liu Xuan Xuan 21-14, 18-21, 21-12 in an hour and four minutes to reach the last four stage. They will now face Korean pair Baek Na Ha/Lee So Hee in the semifinals on Saturday.
Screenshots in the blog via BWF / Viacom 18 / Tournament Software