All England Badminton Semi-Finals Highlights: Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand lose; Chen Yu Fei stuns Akane Yamaguchi

Daddies (combined age 73) are AGAIN in the All England final going for their third crown after 2014, 2019. 29-27 in the third against Liang - Wang (combined age of 43), Shivani Naik writes.

How about that!

Shi Yu Qi is in the final of #YAE23 ?? https://t.co/9iLtLrqYi4 pic.twitter.com/1Hv8ES030H

— ? Yonex All England Badminton Championships ? (@YonexAllEngland) March 18, 2023

Y.Q. Shi beats Z.J. Lee 21-19, 21-13 in straight games to reach the men's final.

Y.Q. Shi takes the first game 21-19 against Z.J. Lee in the first men's semifinals.

“We learned a lot from this match,” Gayatri said after the match.  “They were excellent and weren’t leaving any shuttle,” she added.

“When we played against them, their defense was good, it was better than yesterday. We were panicking and didn’t play well,” said Treesa.

“We just kept attacking, but there was pressure and we were nervous,” she explained. (READ MORE)

Z.J. Lee and Y.Q. Shi face off in the first men's singles semifinal next.

H. Setiawan and M. Ahsan win the 1st semifinal against C. Wang and W.K. Liang. 21-15, 19-21, 29-27

C. Wang and W.K. Liang. take the 2nd game 21-19 against H. Setiawan and M. Ahsan

H. Setiawan and M. Ahsan take the first game 21-15 against C. Wang and W.K. Liang.

H. Setiawan and M. Ahsan of Indonesia will take on China's C. Wang and W.K. Liang in the first men's doubles semifinals next.

Fourth seed Chen Yu Fei has sent the Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi packing in a women's singles semi-final. The Chinese shuttler won 21-17, 21-8!!!

What an incredible scoreline. The Japanese Yamaguchi has looked in imperious form this year. 

Stop what you are doing and watch this rally ?

Madness on the Minoru Yoneyama court!#YAE23 pic.twitter.com/C1V7y1lZrT

— ? Yonex All England Badminton Championships ? (@YonexAllEngland) March 18, 2023

China's Chen Yu Fei holds a slender 5-4 lead over Japan's Akane Yamaguchi

The top seeded pairing of Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong are headed to the final of the All England 2023 after quelling the spirited challenge of Indonesia's Lisa Ayu Kusumawati and Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto 21-17, 13-21, 21-13

In 2019, shuttlers from China won three titles at the All England. Since then, no Chinese shuttler has been victorious at the All England. This year, though, signs look promising for the badminton powerhouse. A look at the numbers at All England 2023 confirms this. Out of eight spots, three quarter-finalists in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles were from China. 

The Chinese pair of Zheng and Huang are leading the mixed doubles semi-final against Indonesia's Kusha Kusum after winning the first game 21-17.  

ANDERS IS ON HIS WAY TO THE SEMI’S! ?? #YAE23 pic.twitter.com/F7o2Abx1U5

— ? Yonex All England Badminton Championships ? (@YonexAllEngland) March 17, 2023

Asking badminton players who their favourite non-badminton athlete is ?#YAE23 pic.twitter.com/6KKh3r6uWc

— ? Yonex All England Badminton Championships ? (@YonexAllEngland) March 18, 2023

Fairly one-sided loss handed to the Indians 21-10, 21-10. Masterclass in defense. Big learning curve, like the commentator said.

Read our match report of the Indian pair's defeat to Korea’s Baek Na Ha and Lee So Hee. 

The Indians lost 21-10, 21-10, their attacking nous crumbling against the impenetrable defence of Korea’s Baek Na Ha and Lee So Hee.

20 minutes for Game 1, 26 for Game 2. 

For a change, it's the Koreans who attack, attack, attack. And it's the defence of Gayatri that withers. 

Gayatri pulls a point back at 5-11 after smashing two body shots at Lee So Hee, before hitting one at Baek Na Ha. They returned all three, but Gayatri had an ace up her sleeve in the form of a drop that Baek Na Ha didn't see coming.

The unstoppable force that is Treesa's smash seems to have found the immovable object that is the Koreans' defence.

With their high tosses in defence, the Koreans are frustrating the attack-minded Indians by inviting them to smash themselves silly. They're like retriving machines, sending every shuttle back with a high lift. 

Boe asking the Indians to not get frustrated with Korean defense. And to make them move because they aren't killing from the net

Koreans are defensively so strong that long rallies are to be expected. Indians pushed into reactive role, as Koreans dictate. 21-10

Mathias Boe's talk to the Indians before Game 2: "You're getting frustrated and making errors. Right now they're comfortable." 

14-10 to 21-10 for the Koreans who have slammed their foot on the pedal and vroomed out of sight of the Indians. That game lasted just 20 minutes. 

What a Rally. First those Korean high lifts denying the Indians flat game. But Gayatri moves up quickly at the net, and Treesa finishes. 10-14

Gayatri first and Treesa on the following point attack the backhands of the Koreans and win a point. Solid strategy that is working for them.

Indians get another point at 6-11.

It was Gayatri who forced the Koreans on the defensive with her booming smashes from the right-side court. Finally, one shot from the Koreans flew wide. 

What a point for India. Had everything. Great defence at the start from Treesa. Some delectable drops from Gayatri. And finally the Indians pile on pressure to win the point and rein back the Koreans. It was Treesa's judgement to let the shuttle fall just inches out the line. 

Gayatri caresses the shuttle acros the net to win India's second point, and then hits a armour-piercing body smash to make it 3-6. 

The Indians win a point, but drop serve immediately with Treesa hitting her smash wide outside! 5-1 to the Koreans.

Koreans are driving deep to the back court in these first few points. 0-4 to Koreans

They seem to be getting into each other's way a fair bit at the start. It's probably just the nerves. 

Utilita Arena in Birmingham erupts as the Indians are announced. Clearly the favourites. 

Korea’s Baek Na Ha is 22 years old and has been been World No 10 with a different partner. Lee So Hee, who is much older, and much taller than all the three others on court, is 28 years of age and has been the World No 2 in the past. They are known to have a solid defence. They just won the title at the German Open last week. 

Analysing Treesa-Gayatri's quarters win over the Chinese pair, Shivani Naik wrote: "It was almost the perfect doubles victory. Treesa Jolly dipping into her sack of delightful tricks from all around the court, and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela matching her with smooth set-ups and kills at the net as Li Wen Mei and Liu Xuan Xuan of China were downed 21-14, 18-21, 21-12 in the quarterfinals of the All England Badminton Championships."

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Treesa Jolly's career owes a debt to her sister sacrificing her own career. Here's the story in Treesa's own words: “Badminton is an expensive sport that we couldn’t afford to take care of all the expenses. My father and mother together got some Rs 10,000 a month at that time. It’s not enough to travel for one tournament in India. That was one of the reasons my sister stopped playing. When the time came to make a decision, I was playing slightly better. So, she gave up the sport.” 

Treesa Jolly and her sister grew up playing badminton in their backyard in Pulingome, a village in Kerala’s Kannur district. The state is known for athletics, football and volleyball. 

Here is Treesa talking about her start in her own words: “When I started playing in 2008, there was no indoor badminton court in Pulingome, my village. My father made a court in our courtyard with clay for my sister and me to play on. He made the whole court alone. He would regularly roll the court to keep it flat. Some days we would wake up to find him rolling the court at 3 in the night. But in the rainy season, we couldn’t play because the clay would get soggy. So, he covered the court with a tarpaulin. Once we started getting better and winning competitively, he replaced the tarpaulin covering with a harder sheet.”

 

 

 

 

 

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India has forever been known as a hub for singles badminton players, with a long line of champions starting from Prakash Padukone to Pullela Gopichand to Saina Nehwal to PV Sindhu and now to Lakshya Sen.  

But over the last couple of years, doubles pairs from India are earning considerable success in the men's doubles thanks to Satwiksairaj Rankidreddy and Chirag Shetty. it was the duo that helped India win the Thomas Cup last year.

Now, the women's doubles pairing of Treesa and Gayatri brings fresh hope. 

After Prakash Padukone won in 1980, Pullela Gopichand lifted the trophy in 2001 twenty one years later. 

Besides those two titles, there have been three near-misses. There was Prakash Nath in 1947, Prakash Padukone in 1980, Pullela Gopichand in 2001, Saina Nehwal in 2015, before Lakshya Sen last year.

 

 

 

 

 

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Gayatri Gopichand Pullela will have a special cheerleader in the audience at the All England. Her brother Vishnu who studies at Loughborough University has driven down to Birmingham over the weekend to support her and Treesa for the semis.

At the 2022 All England Championships, the Indian pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were initally in the reserves list. But they sneaked into the main draw at the last minute. They went on a giant-killing running, scything down more established pairs, showing scant regard for things like rankings and seedings and reputations. They stunned Tokyo Olympics champions Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu (where the Indians had held the lead until Rahayu picked up an injury and had to retire) in the pre-quarters, and second seeded Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan in the quarters.

The Indian pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, ranked 17 in the world, are in their second successive semi-finals at the All England Championships.

They claimed a 21-14, 18-21, 21-12 win over the newly-formed Chinese pair of Li Wen Mei and Liu Xuan Xuan in a 64-minute quarters encounter. 

They stunned seventh seeded Thais Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Ravindra Prajongjai in the opening round and the former World No 1 pairing of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the second round.

After their defeat to the Indian pair in the quarters, Li Wen Mei revealed why they had lost to the young pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.

“They were very clear about their tactics. One of them controlled the net (Gayatri) and the other was smashing really hard (Treesa). Our defence wasn’t good enough, and they could score a lot of points,” she admitted.

The Indian pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly have their eyes set on winning the All England this year. Like last time, they're in the semis once again. There is a crutcial difference though: attitude and belief. 

“We’re going for the title,” Gayatri told BWF after their quarter-final win on Friday. “Last time, the excitement was so high… We wanted to play the All England at least once. But this time we knew we’d get an entry for this tournament, and we’d prepared well. Last year we just couldn’t sleep as we were so excited. But this time feels normal.”

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the semi-finals of the 2023 All England Championships. This is me, Amit Kamath, and joining me will be our in-house badminton correspondent Shivani Naik.