Birmingham, March 18 : Indian women’s doubles team of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the All England Open Badminton Championships semifinal, beating World no. 2 Korean pair of Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan. The Indians registered a 14-21, 22-20, 21-15 win over the Koreans in three setter. They will be up against the winner of the match between China’s Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu and Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai. Treesa and Gayatri moved into the quarterfinal after their opponents withdrew midway during the second game on Thursday. The Indian pair was leading by19-14 in the second game at the time of Apriyani Rahayu’s withdrawal, after losing the opening game 21-18. Interestingly, Gayatri is a daughter of former Indian shuttler Pullela Gopichand, who is a national coach for the India badminton team. Gopichand is the second Indian to clinch the prestigious All England title after Prakash Padukone, who was the first Indian shuttler to lift the prestigious trophy. Only two Indians have has won the All England Open since it started in 1899. Padukone won the singles title in 1980 while Gopichand clinch the title in 2001. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, however, missed to become the first women to win the title as she ended her campaign as the runner-up in 2015. With two semifinal spots India will look to end the title drought after 21 years.
