India’s challenge at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 event came to an end on Thursday as two women’s doubles couples were eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were the first Indians to enter the court, but they were no match for Indonesian seventh seeds Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ranadhanti, falling 8-21 14-21 in only 36 minutes.
Following that, all eyes were on Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa to deliver a strong performance against top seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahar of Japan and keep the country’s flag flying, but the challenge proved too difficult.
The unseeded Indian duo fell 18-21 7-21 in 38 minutes against Matsumoto and Nagahara, therefore ending the country’s season here.
Lee Zii Jia was ousted in Round 2 of the BWF Hong Kong Open 2023 on Thursday, 14 September, losing 21-19, 17-21, 20-22 against Lee Chia Hao.
Unseeded Malaysian Lee managed to win four straight points when it counted most to go 1-0 up in a dramatic first game in which the lead changed hands multiple times.
That appeared to rouse Republic of China shuttler Lee, who surged into the lead in the second game and never relinquished it to tie the match at 1-1. The finale did not disappoint, as neither man was able to move ahead at 20-20.
From then, it was a question of who could keep their cool the best, and it was Lee Chia Hao who came away with the two points needed to win and go to the men’s singles quarter-finals.
In the quarterfinals, Lee will face the winner of the match between No. 5 seed Jonatan Christie and Lee Cheuk Yui.
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