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Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand lose in straight sets to Japanese No 4, but plenty of net gains from season ender

The 21-17, 21-13 loss was triggered by women’s doubles slinger-in-chief Chiharu Shida.

Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Badminton

Treesa Jolly,and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in action.

A couple of nagging doubts will have settled, after Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand finish the season on World No 11, on the cusp of the Top 10. One, that the pairing works – they win big matches, and the combination doesn’t need dehyphenating, though like wailing banshees, the cries will play on loop whenever they lose. And secondly, that a hard-working Indian coach, Arun Vishnu, can click and get you wins at the topmost level. Though Friday’s loss, and exit from the World Tour Finals also means there’s humongous work left to be done.

Japanese World No 4 Chiharu Shida, can be said to have single-handedly driven a neat wedge into the Indian defense, as the Indians were taken apart 21-17, 21-13 in their final group game. Matsuyama, the weaker link on the day, was peppered by both Indians, but the extremely skilled slinger Shida had all the counters and a lot of combative spunk as she scythed, sliced and arrow-smashed to leave the young Indians gasping.

Treesa-Gayatri finished with the fortifying win over World No 6, Tan-Thinaah, a serious challenge, albeit a loss, against Chinese World No 1 Liu-Tan, and a slightly deflated end to their first-ever season-ending Finals against the clinical Japanese, with the World Nos 1 and 4 lining up at the semis as expected. What the Indians did show was that they belonged at this Top 8 level, and can unfurl games where they can make inroads.

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Saturday though was all about Shida. A role model for every upcoming shuttler in women’s doubles, the energetic Japanese combines guile with a gush of energy that can leave opponents floored. It’s not only that she’s lightening quick, but her shot placement is stellar, the wrist redirecting the shuttle wherever she sees gaps on court.

Shida might be in possession of one of the flattest smashes in the world, and she aims them cross. She literally whacks shuttles like a Sania Mirza tennis forehand or a very awkward (but effective) Ramkumar tennis backhand. Point is, it travels. Fiercely and very fast. Treesa and Gayatri were left diving after an invisible shuttle comet-tail. The Shida smash comes like at push or drive length and trajectory but at the speed of a smash. And she prances around the court, covering territory so the Japanese defense holds steady.

The Indias fell back by three points or more at 6-9 in the first set, and never got a whiff of a lead. In the second, they got stuck on 10, while the Japanese blitzed to 16th point, before wrapping it up. Attacking Matsuyama worked, but it wasn’t enough with Shida on the rampage.

Such is the ferocity of the Shida cross flats, she can draw out mirroring response from opponents, though they fail in execution because they lack her wrist control. At 17-20, Treesa overhit a drop, of all things, smacking at it, a la Shida, and Gayatri too was a tad disoriented in her court movements. In the second, the Japanese simply rode the momentum.

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Yet, the Indians made a handful of gains, besides the Top6 scalp on Thursday. With improved speed, the Indians can push the best in end games. In fact thrice in last three days, Treesa-Gayatri came back after trailing to win the set, showing a fearless mentality. Strength-wise they can get better, and they could have attacked Shida more with body attacks, to vary the Matsuyama barrage. But the Indians showed variety and flexibility of gameplans for most part, to hold their own amongst the absolute elite.

Entering Top 10 is inevitable, but staying there will demand consistency and deep runs into tournaments so plenty of off season endurance work. Coach Tan Kim Her will have his tactical inputs. But the duo look like they have a good guide in Arun Vishnu, who might have watched hundreds of hours of footage for detailed analyses of the contemporary pairs. He’s moulded Treesa into a highly versatile thinker, and the game will follow.