India’s women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out of the Macau Open 2024 following a hard-fought three-game defeat in the semi-finals. The Indian duo, ranked 23rd in the world, were beaten by the 54th-ranked pair from Chinese Taipei, Hung En-Tzu and Hsieh Pei Shan, with a scoreline of 21-17, 16-21, 21-10 in a match that lasted an hour.
The semi-final clash at the Macau East Asian Games Dome began competitively, with both teams showing early promise. However, Hung and Hsieh managed to pull ahead in the first game, establishing a 13-8 lead. Treesa and Gayatri fought back to level the score at 15-all, but the Taipei pair regained control, winning six of the next eight points to take the first game 21-17.
In the second game, the Indian team showed more urgency, tightening their shuttle placements and adopting a more aggressive approach. These adjustments paid off as they won the second game 21-16, forcing the match into a decider.
With a spot in the final of the BWF Super 300 tournament on the line, Hung and Hsieh dominated the third game from the start. They led throughout, eventually closing out the match 21-10 and securing their place in the final. This marked the third time in 2024 that the Taipei pair had defeated Treesa and Gayatri on the BWF World Tour, having previously beaten them at the Canada Open and China Open.
Despite their efforts, the Indian duo’s loss also marked the end of India’s challenge at the Macau Open. Earlier in the tournament, they had impressed by defeating another Chinese Taipei pair, Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Jhih Yun, in the quarter-finals. However, Treesa and Gayatri, who had also reached the semi-finals of the Singapore Open in June, are still searching for their first title of the year.
Other Indian badminton stars, including PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, opted not to compete in the Macau Open following their participation in the Paris 2024 Olympics. In the men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated, leaving India without a finalist in the tournament.
