ODENSE: Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand’s Denmark Open campaign ended in the quarterfinals on Friday, as they lost 21-14, 17-21, 11-21 to Malaysia’s second-seeded pair, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. The Indian pair started well in the first game, using precise net shots to move ahead 8-4. Their opponents broke that rhythm with a tight cross-court shot, but the Indians still led 11-7 at the interval. The Malaysians then dragged them into wider shots and forced a smash that caught Gayathri off guard.
Gayatri and Treesa felt the pressure late on at 19-12, repeatedly sending shots wide from the back court. They steadied themselves to close out the first game at 21-14.
The World No.18 pair started the second game with a 6-4 lead over Tan and Muralitharan.
The Indian duo then struggled with their rotations, and the Malaysian pair took their chances. Tan and Muralitharan drew level at 9-9 after a long run of points from their opponents, then won the next two points to take the first half of the game 11-9. Gayathri and Treesa battled through a long rally at 17-19, but Gayathri then missed a front-court net shot. The Indian pair lost the second game 17-21, sending the match to a decider.
In the third game, the Malaysians raced to a 7-2 lead with repeated sharp-angled shots, and the Indians trailed 4-11 at the interval. At 7-14, a marathon rally of 81 shots went the Malaysians way. Tan and Muralitharan closed out the game 21-11.
The pair will next participate in the French Open taking place from October 20 to 25. IANS
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