Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida ended the dream run of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand 23-21, 21-11 in the semifinals of the Singapore Open BWF Super-750 tournament on Saturday. The Indian duo, who upset the second and sixth seeds earlier in the tournament, fell to the fourth-seeded Japanese pair in 47 minutes.
The Indians were slow off the blocks in the first game. But they made amends to give a tough time to the rivals towards the end. From 2-8, they closed the gap to 9-10 and saved three game points before losing.
At 18-20, Shida hit the shuttle wide. After a few exchanges, Gayatri saved the second game point with a powerful smash. At 20-21, Treesa helped India save the third game point with a brilliant return. The Japanese made it 22-21 after a poor serve from Treesa and exploited the gap at the back of court to secure the winner.
After losing the first game, the Indians made many mistakes at the net. Nami-Shida opened a 5-1 lead and raced to 13-2 with eight straight points. While the Japanese got better with every point, the Indians looked clueless. Both Nami and Shida were aggressive, hit the lines consistently and hardly gave room for the Indians.
In the final, the Japanese will face top seeds Cheng Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China, who defeated compatriots Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning 21-12, 21-17.
