All England Open 2022: Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand dream run ends after semifinal defeat

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Birmingham, March 20: Gayatri Gopichand Pullela and Treesa Jolly's dream run at the All England Open 2022 came to an end on Saturday (March 19) after defeat in the semifinal clash against China's Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu in Birmingham, England.

The Indian duo, who created history by becoming the first Indian doubles team to reach the doubles semifinal in All England Open, lost in straight games 21-17, 21-16 to the Chinsese pair, in a match that lasted for 51 minutes on court 6 at Utilita Arena.

During their dream run, the Jolly-Gayatri pair secured a comeback (17-21, 22-20, 21-14) win to go past Thai pair Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard in the first round.

In the second round, the Indian duo were trailing 0-1 after a 18-21 first game scoreline against Indonesian sixth-seed pair Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, who retired midway through the second game trailing 14-19 to Jolly and Gayatri.

In the quartefinal, the Indian pair came from a game down to stun second seeded South Korean pair Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan (14-21, 22-20, 21-15) to create history. Now, after the semifinal defeat, the pair will prepare for the Swiss Open, scheduled for next week.

Earlier on Saturday (March 19), India's Lakshya Sen stormed into the men's singles finals after defeating Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia 21-13 12-21 21-19 in a match that lasted for one hour and sixteen minutes.

The last time an Indian reached the final of All England was Saina Nehwal in 2015 where she ended up as runners-up and the last time an Indian who won All England Badminton Championships 2022 was Pullela Gopichand in 2001.

Only two Indians have won this tournament before Prakash Padukone in 1980 and Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Lakshya Sen is just one win away from being the third Indian. Lakshya also becomes the fifth Indian to enter the All England final.

(With Agency inputs)