The exhilarating journey of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2023 has garnered much attention and admiration in the world of badminton. What makes their performance particularly remarkable is the fact that this women’s doubles pair entered last year’s tournament as mere reserves, only to defy all expectations by storming into the semifinals. Their continued success in this year’s competition is nothing short of awe-inspiring, as they have successfully toppled some of the most formidable and higher-ranked pairs. One such astonishing upset was their victory against the seventh seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Ravindra Prajongjai, with a decisive score of 21-18, 21-14 in the first round. Moreover, they demonstrated their exceptional skills by outshining the former world number one duo, Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota. As Jolly and Pullela continue to dominate the badminton court, they emerge as a force to be reckoned with, leaving audiences eagerly anticipating their next move in the championship.
Despite the impressive achievements by some Indian players, the scenario was not as bright for the rest in the competition. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty initially seemed triumphant, securing an early lead in the first game, only to suffer a disappointing loss against the skilled duo of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang after three intense games. The men’s singles matches also witnessed discouraging results. HS Prannoy, who previously held a 2-1 advantage in head-to-head games against his Indonesian competitor, was defeated by third seed Anthony Ginting. Kidambi Srikanth suffered a similar fate, losing in two consecutive games against the formidable seventh seed Kodai Naraoka. Last year’s finalist, Lakshya Sen, faced a crushing defeat in straight games at the hands of the talented Anders Antonsen.
