New Delhi: Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly saved hosts India the blushes at the BWF World Championships by clinching bronze in Women’s Doubles.
Having stunned fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China after dropping the opening game in the semis a day earlier, the unseeded Indian pair took on another Chinese duo, World No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning on Saturday.
Doubles specialists Gayatri, daughter of Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand, and Treesa started from where they had left off on Friday. Backed by a vociferous crowd at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Gayatri and Treesa rallied superbly to claim the opener.
But the Chinese found their groove midway through the second game and ran away with the match 18-21, 21-13, 21-8 to enter the final. Gayatri and Treesa had to settle for bronze, 15 years after Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa finished third in the London Worlds.
In a disappointment for Delhi fans and badminton lovers, no Indian will feature in Sunday’s finals.
The fancied pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out in the Men’s Doubles quarterfinals.
Young Ayush Shetty, raising expectation after knocking out defending champion and World No. 1 Shi Yu Qi in the first round, lost tamely in the pre-quarters, as did PV Sindhu.
