All England Open 2022: India’s teenage couple Gayatri Gopichand and Jolly Treesa stunned world No. 2 Sohee Lee and Korea’s Sseungchan Shin to become the first couple to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious Super 1000 tournament.
Gayatri Gopichand (pictured) and Jolly Treesa made history at the 2022 All England Open (Getty Images)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Gayatri and Jolly became the first Indian couple to reach the All England semifinals
- The Indian duo ousted the No. 2 women’s doubles in the world
- Previously, Lakshya Sen had managed a free-kick into the men’s singles semifinals
India’s teenage pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Jolly Treesa caused one of the biggest upsets at the 2022 All England Championships by knocking out world No. 2 and World Championships silver medalist Sohee Lee and Sseungchan Shin.of Korea in the women’s doubles quarter-finals in Birmingham on Friday .
19-year-old Gayatri Gopichand and 18-year-old Jolly Treesa kept their nerves in a brave display of badminton as they hit 2 match points in the 2 quarterfinals match.
With the win, Gayatri and Treesa made history by becoming the first Indian couple to reach the semi-finals of the All England Championships. Remarkably, it was Gayatri’s father, Pullela Gopichand, who last won the prestigious title for India, topping the podium in men’s singles in 2001, 21 years after the legendary Prakash Padukone took home the first title from Birmingham.
Everyone wanted to know what Tressa/Gayatri would do if they didn’t win against the 2nd seeded pair today. I guess we’d never know
“Boss Ladies” make it to the semi-finals of the Super 1000 event in style for the first time #AllEngland2022#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/EiijH4gYbg
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 18, 2022
A HUGE surprise in the Quarterfinals!!
Young couple Jolly & Pullela come off a set to WIN against world No. 2
Check out this reaction! #YAE22 https://t.co/XhduIeduQz pic.twitter.com/W56ErXTJFK
— Yonex All England Badminton Championships (@YonexAllEngland) March 18, 2022
Gayatri and Treesa weren’t initially part of the main draw as they were reserves, but withdrawals saw the pair earn a shot at one of badminton’s biggest stages. The teenage duo took full advantage of the opportunity, beating Thailand’s Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Almsaard 17-21, 22-20, 21-14 in the first round.
The duo then put up a strong fight against reigning Olympic champions Greysa Polii and Apriyani Rahayu before the Indonesian pair retired in game 2 through injury.
India will have two representatives in the semi-finals of this year’s All England Open Championships as the in-form Lakshya Sen earned a berth in Friday’s round of four of men’s singles.
