All England Open 2023 Semi-Finals Highlights: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand loses in straight games

Welcome to the live blog for Day 5 of the All England Open 2023. Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand take on Baek Ha Naa/lee So Hee in the women's doubles semis.

For the second straight year, the Indian women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the semi-finals of All England Open Badminton Championships. They next face Korean World No. 20 pair Baek Ha Na/Lee So He, who knocked out second and eighth seeds on their way to the semis. Follow All England Open 2023 live here!

Treesa and Gayatri will be familiar with Lee, having beaten her last year at this very tournament when she paired with Shin Seungchuan. However, they are facing the Korean pair for the first time.

The Indian pair, both still only 20, are the only remaining Indian players in the All England Open 2023. They beat the Chinese duo Li Wen Mei/Liu Xuan Xuan in three games in their quarter-final clash. Treesa-Gayatri had an opportunity to seal the tie in straight games, but the Chinese pair forced the match into three sets. Eventually, the Indians prevailed 21-14, 18-21, 21-12.

Earlier Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly saw off former World No. 1 pair and All England Open champions Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in straight games. Prior to that, they had beaten seventh seed Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai in the second round once again in straight games.

While Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly pair are the current happy and success story of Indian badminton, the other top shuttlers from the country continue to struggle, especially in singles. The likes of HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the All England Open from the second round, while PV Sindhu exited from the first and Saina Nehwal withdrew.