Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly progressed to the Round of 16 in the women’s doubles event of the Hong Kong Open 2023 in Kowloon on Tuesday. Competing on the badminton courts of the Hong Kong Coliseum, Gopichand and Jolly got the better of Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen 21-15, 16-21, 21-16 in a match that lasted for 54 minutes.
Also Read: Hong Kong Open: Kiran George fails to qualify, Malvika Bansod progresses to main draw
The Indian badminton players were in a spot of bother at the start of the match, trailing 4-7 after initial exchanges. However, Gopichand and Jolly dragged things back to level the scores at 8-8 and saw off the first game to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second game was a close contest, but the Indian team gave up eight of the final 11 points.
In the third game, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly staged a comeback to take an 11-7 lead into halftime. The Indians maintained their advantage at the change of ends and advanced to the round of 16.
The BWF Super 500 tournament’s preliminary round was not reached by any of the five Indian men’s singles badminton players. World No. 39 Kiran George started his qualifying campaign with a 21-15, 21-17 win over world No. 41 Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei. Asian Games-bound Malvika Bansod progressed to the main draw of the women’s singles with a 21-14, 11-10 win over Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh.
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