Singapore Open: How Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand scripted an epic turnaround to beat world No 6 for back-to-back upsets

The scoreboard read 21-18, 18-12 in favour of Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, the current world No 6 and former world No 1 pair from Korea. Even three minutes earlier things didn’t appear to be that dire for Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly. The opening game was competitive (even shaded by the Indians if not for the errors they made) and in Game 2 as well, they kept up with the Koreans. But in a matter of a few minutes, things escalated. Close to the finish line. Nearly.

But Treesa-Gayatri had other ideas. The world No 30 pair staged a stunning fightback from there, first to win 9 out of the next 10 points to force a decider, then to hold their nerves in a thriller of Game 3 to convert their fourth match point. The Indians, after their superb win against world No 2 on Thursday, backed it up with another impressive upset against reigning Olympic and World Championships bronze medallists, prevailing 18-21, 21-19, 24-22.

It wasn’t the first time they pulled off such a comeback. At their All England debut in 2022, when they made a breakthrough run to the semifinals, they trailed by a game and 12-18 against Thailand’s Aimsaard sisters. But they turned that around too. Treesa had said that day, “At 12-18 I was thinking it’s not over yet. There are still three points to go. Come on, we can do it,” and they did.

➡️ 1st ever #Super750 semifinal
➡️ Beat World No. 6 duo
➡️ Back-to-back big wins

Well done girls, keep it up! 💪

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But a lot has happened since then. Reaching two semifinals in their first two All England appearances with some big upsets along the way was an incredible achievement for the young duo. But in the last one year, when they needed those sort of results to qualify for the Paris Olympics, they fell apart due to a combination of injuries and inconsistencies. From a confident young duo, seemingly destined for great things, they appeared to be bogged down by the demands of the circuit. Paris is now in their rearview mirror, that ship has sailed. But in the aftermath, they seem to have found their giant-killing mojo back.

A big reason for their win over Baek and Lee in the previous round was the sensational start that they had. While they were unable to replicate that level, they largely kept in touch with Kim and Kong in the early exchanges. Gayatri played a delicious backhand defensive net shot to set up a 28-shot rally for 13-14. But in the end, the Koreans prevailed to take the lead.

Treesa-Gayatri in action today at the Singapore Open:
(BWF / Badminton Photo)

While Gayatri had a consistently good match throughout, Treesa had to script her own comeback within the comeback. “It’s OK, it’s OK, next one,” was the audibly loud message from Pullela Gopichand as Treesa made a couple of soft errors early on in Game 2. At one point, she just went straight smash after straight smash at Kim, who happily kept lifting the shuttle before Treesa netted one.

Usually in their gameplay, Gayatri acts as the sponge to absorb the opponent’s attacking pressure while Treesa goes big on the attack. But when they needed to dig deep, Gayatri took charge and found the winners. From 12-18 down, she hit as many as four unreturnable shots to close out rallies, two of them wonderful touches at the net, and one a smash that would have made Treesa proud. At 19-19, it was Treesa’s turn to step up as she surprised Kim with a superb flick serve, it gave the Indians a game point that they converted.

Moments of victory ✨

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— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) May 31, 2024

Once in Game 3 though, Treesa too started finding her rhythm. Where there was just repeated smashing earlier, the changes of pace started to reappear. While she is known for her power game, one of Treesa’s main weapons is the slow drop she plays from the backcourt while shaping to go for the big booming hit, as she showed when the Indians went up 8-5. Moments earlier, Gayatri executed the perfectly timed racket-change in the middle of a 23-shot rally, before Treesa eventually killed the point. These were mini moments when it looked it was destined to be the Indians’ day.

The Koreans kept gifting points with service errors in the second half of the decider, perhaps put under pressure by the aggressive returning stance of the Indians. It gave the Indian youngsters a cushion but still needed them to hold their nerves till the very end after three match points were squandered. Closing out tight games has been an area of concern in the past, and that was another mini tick on the checklist as they pulled off a fine fightback.

They are shuttlers of few words. “It was a great win. They are tough players, they don’t give anything easy. I am super happy. Hope this continues and we win the tournament,” Gayatri told BWF on Friday. “How many ever rallies were there, we didn’t give up. After so long we have played good matches against seeded players, it’s awesome,” added Treesa.

On Saturday, they will face world No 4 Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan in what will be another stiff test. They might not be the most expressive off the court, but if they manage to find their rhythm on the court, they know they can make it tough for the Japanese. After all, Treesa-Gayatri have beaten them once earlier this year at the Badminton Asia Team Championships. A repeat would do nicely.

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