Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand retain Syed Modi crown with 17-21, 21-13, 21-15 win over Osawa-Tanabe

Choosing doubles (over singles) was entirely Treesa and Gayatri’s choice, and for two straight years now, the discerning Lucknow badminton crowd, has ridden the crests and troughs of their unbeaten run, to get behind the duo by virtue of them being nothing more than home favourites. A packed house at Babu Benarsi stadium chattering choruses through their woolens, Lucknow offered quite the atmosphere. It’s why Gayatri would tell the Olympic channel, “The crowd was amazing, they raised our josh. In the end, we wanted to win for them too.”

The Indians had lost the opening set 17-21. It was a combination of the drift, and slightly laidback tactics, where getting drawn into long rallies with the perennially retrieving Japanese is almost always a trap.

By Set 2, the Indians decided they would take charge of the rallies. The Indians attempted to keep a 4-point buffer, thereafter, making quick switches from defense to attack, and keeping a very tight control on the pace.

The Indians do this by playing push drops and strategic lifts on the backhand with a diagonal stance. It helps them keep the shuttle airborne for a long time as they suck out pace from returns while giving the shuttle elevation. Gayatri has always been good at it. But Treesa has increasingly shown skills to don the playmaker’s role at the net.

Known for her smashes kills, it’s been a sobering realisation that most of the hits will get retrieved. It’s why the lobs to the back and the drops and half smashes have nuanced her scythes, and injected patience into her game. Patience with aggression however, is a heady cocktail and Treesa’s stint at mixed doubles has given her the confidence that she can trip up opponents with more than her full blooded smashes.

The Japanese, proficient in defense, however found the repeated drops to the forecourt after the Indians pinned them back with well constructed patterns, rather tough, and lost points in a clump.

They made the decider a 2-pointer at 12-14 hauling back the derailed initiative from 9-14 down, by increasing their pace and defending stoutly. But Treesa took the tiniest of breathers after breaking her racquet strings to regroup, and effectively snapped their momentum.

In the mid-set, Treesa displayed agility by planting herself in a squat and sent quick returns from round the head, and leaned back for a forehand push like Matrix Neo. Gayatri would charge the net for the explosive tap down. What eventually led the Indians through those finishing stages of the third set, were quick snappy aggressive putdowns to rallies that took them from 15-12 to 19-13 as the crowd broke into whistles.

Worries over the past months as Gayatri tended to her injuries and rehab, had centred on whether they would gel well together after the longish layoff. Ironically, the winning point for the Indians had their racquets almost clashing, but the clang synchronised in both going for the same kill that happily landed on the Japanese court.

Treesa said she was very happy to win a home event though the pressure of defending a title had weighed heavy till they actually hit the courts. Then the Lucknow luck, took over. “The setback of past few months saw us miss big events and it’s been a rollercoaster. But we didn’t give up,” she said.

The buzz of a title and an enveloping, warmly appreciative crowd was just what Gayatri needed too. “It’s a boost for next year. Definitely it was challenging with injuries and breaks. But we know it’s a long journey and it’s just the start. I’m happy Treesa and I really stuck it out,” she said.