Can Treesa-Gayatri avenge that 18-16 to 19-21 loss at Singapore ’23 against HK’s ‘Yeung double’ at Swiss Open? | Badminton News
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had embarked on a journey to qualify for the Paris Olympics when at the Singapore Open of 2023, they faced an obstacle in the form of Pui Lam Yeung and Nga Ting Yeung of Hong Kong.
The non-related Yeung double were trailing 16-18 in the decider, but in one of those forgettable losses for the Indians, the Yeungs turned the tables at the last moment to go from lagging to winning 21-19. The Hong Kong duo who managed to qualify for Paris themselves again stand in the way of Treesa-Gayatri, this time in quarters of the Swiss Open Super 300.
It’s a relatively low stakes tournament but the Indians would be keen to put one past and attempt to go deeper chasing a Super 300 title.
What’s interesting about the HK duo is how their personality compatibility had become a topic of discussion at a time when the ’16-type personality’ trend was popular on the island.
In an interview with Sportsroad, Nga Ting, had spoken about their contrasting personalities saying, “I am the ‘E person’ and she is the ‘I person’. So during the interview, I will give her all the words I want to say. She is very good at improvisation and can say a lot even to strangers. When I have nothing to say, I will look at her and wait for her to answer.”
Ya Ting talks a lot while Pei Lin is relatively quiet, Sportsroad wrote, while when they are on the court, their roles are completely reversed. Peilin was quoted as saying, “I am very quiet. I didn’t say anything at the beginning. Later, she asked me to speak more, ‘If you don’t say anything, I won’t know what you want to do’, and I started to improve a little.” Ya Ting had also made a conscious effort on the court, to listen more and talk less. “If I talk so much on the court, she may feel very tired and confused. So when playing, the roles are reversed and she is the leader.”
Should they get past the Hong Kong Yeungs (Yang double), Treesa-Gayatri run into Chinese top seeds Liu-Tan who would be hurting from their defeat at last week’s semifinal exit at All England.
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After his sensational defeat of Anders Antonsen, Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian plays Christo Popov of France.
While the Antonsen win would not have tired him terribly, it is still a challenging draw for Sankar as the French player can get stuck in. The two have never faced each other, but Popov is more experienced and ranked No 31 compared to the Indian’s No 64.
Up further in the draw is Toma Popov, the stronger French player, though he needs to beat Chinese Li Shifeng.
Sankar is the furthest ranked at World No 64 in this Last 8 which has players ranked 5, 6, 11, 13, 16, 17 and 31.
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It’s what Sankar will need to win his first big title.
