The women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and men’s singles shuttler Mithun Manjunath emerged victorious in their respective all-India clashes at the 2024 Thailand Masters Super 300 on Thursday.
While Treesa-Gayatri registered a 21-15, 24-22 straight games win over Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, Manjuthan had to work hard for his 21-9, 13-21, 21-17 win over the more experienced Kidambi Srikanth.
Treesa-Gayatri, who had lost to Ponnappa and Crasto at the Syed Modi India International Challenge last year, started off well as they raced to an 11-5 lead in the first game.
The world No 21 pair of Crasto and Ponnappa did fight back with a consistent run post the mid-game interval, but eventually surrendered the first game 21-15.
The second game, too, got off to a one-sided start as Crasto and Ponnappa opened up an 11-5 lead. Treesa-Gayatri, ranked 22nd in the world, did fight back well, but found themselves five game points down at 15-20.
The two-time All England semi-finalists, however, fought back to level terms at 20-20, before Crasto and Ponnappa edged ahead once again.
While their opponents floundered seven game points, Treesa-Gayatri needed just one match point to advance to the quarter-finals.
Ashmita upsets Pai Yu Po
Later in the day, India’s Ashmita Chaliha registered a shock victory over world No 30 Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei.
Chaliha, who is ranked 61st in the world, prevailed 21-12, 15-21, 21-17 over her more fancied opponent.
On the other hand, the 2022 Junior World Championships silver medallist Sankar Muthusamy lost to Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei 9-21, 11-21 to bow out in the pre-quarterfinals.