All England Open: Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand crash out in semi-finals to Baek Na Ha and Lee So Hee

The All England Open final hopes of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly were dashed on Saturday as they suffered a tough loss to Korea’s Baek Na Ha and Lee So Hee on Saturday in the final four stages of the competition.

The Indian pair were defeated in straight games, 21-10, 21-10 in the semi-finals as their attacking game couldn’t match up to the Koreans’ strong defence. The first game lasted just 20 minutes and the second one just 26 minutes.

The Indian duo had come into the final four stages with a lot of momentum on their side and were looking to seal a spot in the final. Jolly and Gopichand defeated Li Wen Mei and Liu Xuan Xuan 21-14, 18-21, 21-12 in the quarterfinals. They also took out former World No.1 pairing of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 21-14, 24-22 in a second round contest.

Lee and Baek defended perfectly and extended the rallies, preventing Jolly and Gopichand from playing their natural game. The Indian duo were off to a poor start as they were trailing 0-4 in the first game quickly.

The Korean pair continued to frustrate their opponents and their plan worked as the duo raced into a 11-5 lead in the first game. Jolly and Gopichand did mount a comeback to make it 9-13 at one point.

But after 10-14, it was just one-way traffic as the Korean duo won the first game 10-21.

Gopichand and Jolly failed to change their tactics in the second game as Baek and Lee raced to a 11-2 lead in the second game. Gayatri did have a few moments of brilliance as the Indian pairing made it 5-11 after the break. But Lee and Baek were stronger on the day as they only gave away five more points and ended up winning the second game 21-10 to book their spot in the final.