Indian challenge in All England Open ends after Treesa, Gayatri crash out

Birmingham: India's Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand conceded defeat in the women's doubles quarter-final of the All England Badminton Championships after starting well against Chinese second seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. Earlier, Lakshya Sen also bowed out of the tournament, losing to China's Li Shi Feng in the men's singles quarterfinal.

Sen, the 2022 finalist, had conceded defeat to the world number six in straight games 10-21, 16-21 in a 45-minute contest. Meanwhile, Treesa and Gayatri also went down in straight games 14-21 10-21. failed to recreate their outstanding performance in their round-of-16 victory against South Korea's Kim Hye Jeong and Kong Hee Yong on Thursday.

With this result, India's challenge at the prestigious tournament has also come to an end.

Earlier Sen, ranked world No 15 and who had won his last two matches against Li, including at the Thomas Cup, on the day, struggled against his familiar Chinese opponent from the junior class of 2018.

Feng stamped his authority early, winning the first game in just 17 minutes. He played composed badminton, avoiding unnecessary risks. A powerful smash gave him a 9-4 lead, and he entered the break with a solid 11-4 advantage. Sen's unsuccessful review left him trailing 4-12, but he briefly upped his attack, reducing the gap to 7-12 with a sharp cross-court smash. However, Feng adjusted quickly, mixing up his pace and tactics effectively.

Sen showed signs of improvement in the second game, but Feng remained dominant, sealing the issue in 27 minutes. Despite the loss, it was a solid campaign for Sen, who had earlier stunned defending champion Jonatan Christie in straight games, avenging his semifinal defeat to the Indonesian last year.

With this result, Feng advanced to the semifinals, where he will face the winner of the match between top seed Shi Yu Qi and Singapore's Loh Kean Yew.

India's campaign in other categories ended in the second round of the world's oldest Super 1000 tournament that carries a prize purse of $ 1.45 million. On Thursday, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled out in men's doubles after an injury, Malvika Bansod exited in women's singles, and the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also fell short.