Indian Doubles Pairs Exit Asian Games in Quarterfinals

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, along with Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, were knocked out in the badminton quarterfinals at the Asian Games on Sunday. Jolly and Gopichand lost 18-21, 9-21 to Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in women’s doubles, while Kapila and Crasto were edged 14-21, 21-18, 18-21 by China’s Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dongping in mixed doubles.

The two defeats ended India’s challenge in those doubles draws on a difficult day at the quarterfinal stage. Jolly and Gopichand arrived after a strong run that included twin victories over Japanese pair Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto, while Kapila and Crasto pushed the world No. 1 Chinese combination to a deciding game.

Jolly and Gopichand lose in straight games

Jolly and Gopichand began competitively against Tan and Muralitharan, the Malaysian world No. 5 pair and 2025 world championships silver medallists. The Indians had also come into the event following their maiden world championships bronze in New Delhi last month.

The Malaysians established an early 8-3 lead in the opening game, but Jolly and Gopichand recovered to level the score at 10-10. The contest remained tight as the pairs moved together at 14-14, with the Indians matching their opponents during a highly attacking stretch.

Tan and Muralitharan then moved ahead 17-14 after an error-filled phase from the Indian pair. Gopichand produced a deception at the front court and the Malaysians sent one shot wide during a fierce rally, but Tan and Muralitharan regained control to reach 19-16.

Jolly found the net to give the Malaysian pair four game points. The Indians saved two of them before a smash secured the opening game for Tan and Muralitharan, 21-18.

Jolly and Gopichand made a positive start to the second game, leading 3-0 after the change of ends. However, the Malaysians drew errors from the Indians to turn the score around and move 7-3 in front. The gap widened to 11-4 and then 13-6 as both Indian players continued to concede points through errors.

Tan and Muralitharan eventually held 12 match points. Pearly hit the net on one opportunity before Gopichand sent a shot wide, sealing the 21-9 second game and the straight-game quarterfinal victory.

Kapila and Crasto take top seeds to three games

On the adjacent court, Kapila and Crasto produced a determined performance against Feng and Huang, the world No. 1 Chinese mixed doubles pair. The Indian combination lost the first game 21-14 but responded to take the second 21-18 and force a decider.

The third game was also closely contested, but Feng and Huang completed a 21-18 win to take the match 2-1. The result ended Kapila and Crasto’s Asian Games campaign despite their fightback after the opening-game defeat.

India still had women’s singles quarterfinal action later on Sunday, with two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu set to face China’s Chen Yu Fei and Unnati Hooda due to play Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.