Mulheim, March 2
The Indian challenge at the German Open badminton tournament ended after the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost in the quarterfinals on Friday.
In the last eight match, the Indian duo sustained a loss to China's Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min 21-16, 21-14 in a 41-minute affair.
In the first game against the world number 22nd ranked pair, India was leading 8-5 but China fought back and went into the break with a slender lead of 11-10. Indians took back a 15-14 but lost points at crucial stages to go down in the first game. From then on, the Chinese pair dominated the second game as well, leading at 12-6 at one point and won that one too, securing a win giving them a semifinal spot.
Earlier, Aakarshi Kashyap was among the names who exited from the tournament, losing in the round of 16.
Jolly-Gopichand had also lost in QFs of the Thailand Open back in February. They started off the year with a first-round loss in India Open, but were a crucial part of the Indian women's team which secured a historic gold medal at the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Busan last month.
The German Open 2024 is the sixth tournament on the 2024 season and qualifying ranking points are at stake for the shuttlers to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Indian badminton players will play at the French Open BWF Super 750 event in Paris next week.