All England Championships: Treesa-Gayatri enter quarter-finals; Satwik-Chirag ousted

Birmingham: Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand scripted a stunning win to progress to the quarterfinals but Lakshya Sen bowed out in the men’s singles competition of the All England Championships here on Thursday. Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa and Gayatri continued their rise as they shocked former world No. 1 pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 21-14, 24-22 in a pulsating contest. The world no. 17 Indian pair, which had reached the semifinals of the last edition, will next face Chinese combination of Li Wen Mei and Liu Xuan Xuan. Last year’s finalist Sen, however, couldn’t find his touch against Anders Antonsen, going down 13-21, 15-21 in 52 minutes. It was a sweet revenge from the Danish, who had gone down in straight games to the Indian in 2022. Returning from an injury, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy paired up with his partner Chirag Shetty but their gallant fight ended with a 21-10, 17-21, 19-21 loss to China’s world No. 10 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. Treesa and Gayatri have been in good form, having claimed a win over world No. 7 Tan Pearly and Thinnah Muralitharan at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in February. In their opening round here, the Indian duo upset seventh seeds Jongkolphan Kitiiharakul and Rawinda Prajongai of Thailand.