India’s women’s badminton pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand saw their impressive run come to an end with a narrow three-game loss to the world number one Chinese duo of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning in the semifinals of the Swiss Open in Basel on Saturday.The world number. 9 Indian pair squandered an opening-game advantage, going down 21-15, 15-21, 12-21 to the top seeds Liu and Tan in a match that lasted an hour and 32 minutes.This defeat marked the end of India’s campaign at the BWF Super 300 tournament, as Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, the only Indian left in the singles draw, lost 10-21, 14-21 to world number 31 Christo Popov of France, a 2019 World Junior Championships silver medallist, on Friday night.The match was a battle of attrition as both pairs engaged in energy-sapping rallies, many surpassing 70 shots. In the end, it was the Chinese top pair who made fewer mistakes and held their nerves to secure the victory after a long, grueling battle.The Indian duo started strong, opening up a 4-1 lead and extending it to 11-6 at the break. Treesa and Gayatri controlled the pace, earning the early advantage.READ MORE | Qualifier Sankar Muthusamy stuns World No. 2 Antonsen to reach quarterfinalsAfter the change of sides, the young Indian pair maintained its momentum, going 6-3 up. However, Liu and Tan turned the tables, leading 11-7 at the interval.Despite the Indian pair’s best efforts, Liu and Tan won a 77-shot rally at 15-12, and the momentum shifted with that.The Chinese pair soon stretched its lead to 18-12 and secured six game points after Gayatri hit wide. While Gayatri saved one point, a long smash from Treesa saw the match head into the decider.In the third game, Liu and Tan dominated the rallies, establishing an 11-6 lead at the break. The Indians kept fighting, but the Chinese pair gradually increased the gap to comfortably close out the match.
