Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand go down to Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning (AP Photo)
World No 1 Chinese Olympic silver medallists Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, found unexpected resistance in Indians Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, before they could quell their challenge 20-22, 22-20, 21-14 in the opening group match of the World Tour Finals.
Twice, the Chinese led 18-14 in first two sets but were pulled into extended points past deuce, before they pulled out the heavy guns and stomped away in the decider. The Indians might have lost in 81 minutes. And they have a strong of losses against unheralded names in the game on the circuit while nursing niggles. But the pair of 21-year-olds gave enough indication of the next gear they are capable of pushing at the big occasions.
But first the mistakes. End-game surge of aggression is expected from Liu-Tan, one of the most attacking pairings on the circuit. And allowing a large 5-11 deficit in the decider, was leaving it for too late, even if they edged to 13-15 as Treesa smashed steep from the net. The Chinese simply stepped up half a notch higher thereafter and raced to the win. They were bound to, after the Indians twice gave them almighty scares, and even won the opener.
Liu-Tan are the Tour’s biggest sensations of the last year winning 10 titles in 21 months. They once decimated the Indians 21-3 when both were facing injury issues. They would move 3-0 up in a jiffy, and stay on course at 13-8, 15-10, 18-14 as Tan’s flick serve gave the Chinese early advantage in most rallies. Treesa had been smashing at the Chinese bodies and keeping Indians in the hunt, but it was Gayatri who stepped up the aggression at the forecourt and raised the Indian tempo.
Defensively the Indians were top notch in the first two sets, and their errors were next to negligible, a massive big-match play improvement. Both Treesa and Gayatri played smart lifts that floated to the back, earning themselves time and denying the Chinese the right length to smash back.
After levelling at 19-19, the Indians would finally convert their second set point, as Treesa’s sliced drops repeatedly caught the Chinese on the lunge. Gayatri is known to cleverly manoeuvre shuttle around the court, but Treesa has been nicely nuancing her all-out attack with soft shots.
The speed, Indians could match, silencing the Chinese crowd. But the strength, Liu-Tan still held an edge over, and showed their power game to once more set up a fight at the clutch. Treesa-Gayatri came from 14-18 down to level at 18-18 in the second set. The Chinese would finish on the right side of the 22-20 scoreline this time, but even as rallies gpt longer, they were made to work hard – taking 33 minutes, as against the first where Indians took the lead in 23.
The Indian rubber game win percentage is rather low – below 60 percent according to Statminton – and it showed when they stagnated at 5-11 down in decider. Treesa’s front court steep smashes got them to 13-15. But Liu-Tan were inching forward at 18-13 with their signature end game bombastic of an attack, striking shuttle very high. Nailing deciders vs Top 5 remains a challenge for the Indians.
They next take on Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan of Malaysia, against whom they have an abysmal 1-6 record. Pearly is a monster smasher, holds records and all, and together Tan-Thinaah love the long gruelling matches. However they lost to Japanese Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 21-13, 17-21, 18-21 in 74 minutes.
When Treesa-Gayatri force a decider, or are dragged into one, they will need to be alert in the first half of the third set – historically where they are slightly sluggish or tired.
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