Singapore Open 2024: Treesa-Gayatri upsets World No. 2 Baek-Lee to reach quarterfinal

The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist duo of Treesa and Gayatri kept the Indian flag flying by eliminating Baek and Lee 21-9 14-21 21-15 in close to one-hour battle.

FILE PHOTO” India’s Treesa Jolly (l) and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (r) celebrate after wining. | Photo Credit: AFP

Rising Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stunned world number two Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea to enter the quarterfinals at Singapore Open here on Thursday.

The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist duo of Treesa and Gayatri kept the Indian flag flying by eliminating Baek and Lee 21-9 14-21 21-15 in close to one-hour battle.

This was world number 30 Indian duo’s maiden win from three meetings against the world number two Korean pair.

The Baek-Lee duo was error prone as Treesa and Gayatri held a commanding 18-9 lead before taking the opening game without much fuss.

But the Indians allowed the South Koreans to bounce back, committing unforced errors in the second game as the match went to the deciding third game.

The rival pairs exchanged some powerful smashes and were locked 8-all before the Indian duo took a slender two-point lead at the final mid game break.

They continued to play with aggression and reeled off six points on succession to make it 16-9 and seal a memorable win.

In the men’s singles, world No. 10 HS Prannoy, seeded eighth, lost to Kenta Nishimoto, ranked 11th in the world, of Japan 13-21, 21-14, 15-21 in a 45-minute match.

This was the Indian’s fourth defeat against the Japanese from six matches.