Jolly good for India as Treesa-Gayatri signal intention ahead of clash with Malaysia

High-stakes clash: Pearly and Thinaah’s tie with Treesa-Gayatri could be the decider.

PETALING JAYA: Indian youngsters Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand are slowly turning out to be a thorn in their rivals’ side.

Yesterday, the duo delivered the only point in India’s 1-4 defeat to Taiwan in the Group C tie of the Sudirman Cup at the Olympic Sports Centre in Suzhou, China, yesterday.

The world No. 17 pair defeated Lee Chia-hsin-Teng Chun-hsun 21-15, 18-21, 13-21 in a 62-minute battle in the last match of the tie.

Earlier, all their compatriots - H.S. Prannoy (men’s singles), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (men’s doubles), P.V. Sindhu (women’s singles) and K. Sai Prateek-Tanisha Casto (mixed doubles) - had gone down fighting in long-drawn matches.

Treesa-Gayatri’s fine form is a huge threat for Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah as Malaysia get ready for a face-off in their second group match today.

Malaysia must win to keep their hopes of reaching at least the quarter-finals alive in the world mixed team event. Only the top two teams will advance to the quarter-finals.

The 19-year-old Treesa and Gayatri, 20, have made life miserable for Pearly-Thinaah by beating them in the group stage of the Asia mixed team championships in February and this match could be the key to determine who wins in today’s mouth-watering clash.

It was the only defeat for the Malaysians in five meetings.

Thinaah, however, is not getting worked up over the coming tie.

“it just feels good to be back on court with Pearly,” said Thinaah, who had to skip the Asian Championships last month due to her partner’s illness.

Pearly-Thinaah were in the team that defeated Australia 5-0 in another group match yesterday.

“We hope to build our momentum here ... we still have more to improve on.

It’s unsure who will India and Malaysia field today in the men’s singles.

Malaysia have Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong while India have two strong players in H.S. Prannoy and K. Srikanth. Both Prannoy and Srikanth played crucial roles in beating Malaysia at last year’s Thomas Cup Finals.

On paper, Malaysia seem to have a slight advantage but India, with a more balanced side now, have triumphed against them in the two team events (Thomas Cup Finals and Asia Team championships), so the clash at 5pm today will be an interesting battle.