Gayatri-Treesa lose in All England semifinals

Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly lost in the semifinals of the All England Championships in Birmingham, late on Saturday. The talented teens lost to Shu Xiang Zhang and You Zheng of China 17-21, 16-21.

The Indian girls were actually coasting ahead at 11-8 in the first game before the Chinese found their rhythm and moved forward with a five-point burst from 15-15 take the issue beyond the reach of the Indians. Gayatri-Treesa stayed in the contest till the 15th point in the second game but lost way after that.

Though they failed to reach the final, 19-year-old Gayatri and 18-year-old Treesa, the aggressor among the two, gave a good account of themselves by becoming the first pair to reach the semifinals of this prestigious event. They defeated Olympic champions in the pre-quarterfinals and World Championships silver medallists in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen, who is only the fifth Indian to reach the final, will take on Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the summit clash on Sunday. Axelsen defeated Chou Then Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-15 in the semifinals.

Though Olympic champion Axelsen enjoys a 4-1 record against Lakshya, the latter defeated the world No.1 in the semifinals of the German Open last Saturday.