Lucknow30 November. Defending champions Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand saved the women’s doubles title at the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament by defeating Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mai Tanabe in a three-game clash here on Sunday. But 2016 champion Kidambi Srikanth’s nine-year long wait to repeat the men’s singles title extended again.

Former world number one and World Championship 2021 silver medalist fifth seed Srikanth suffered a 16-21 21-8, 20-22 defeat in 67 minutes against world number 59 shuttler Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan on court number one of the BBD UP Badminton Academy.

The 32-year-old experienced Indian shuttler, ranked 38th in the world, had won her previous title at the French Open in 2017. He also reached the final in the Malaysia Masters Super 500 in the same year, but there too he had to be content with becoming the runner-up.

On the other hand, the top seeded Indian pair of Trisa and Gayatri made an aggressive comeback after falling behind by one game and defeated the world number 35 Japanese pair 17-21, 21-13, 21-15 in a thrilling final that lasted one hour and 16 minutes.

The Indian pair were playing just their second tournament after Gayatri returned from a five-month break following a shoulder injury. But both the shuttlers showed amazing coordination and were successful in retaining the title.