Just as B Sai Praneeth and Kidambi Srikanth were sweating it out in the Singapore Open final – the first Superseries final to field two Indian players – Gayatri Pullela and Samiya Farooqui pulled off a similar feat in Indonesia.
Pullela and Farooqui progressed to the girls U-15 doubles finals at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Grand Prix in Jakarta.
Pullela emerged victorious with a 21-11, 18-21, 21-16 win over her compatriot. Following their final, the Indian colts teamed up to clinch the U-15 doubles title 21-17, 21-15 against the Indonesian pair of Kelly Larissa and Shelandry Vyola.
The two girls train together at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. Speaking after their victory in the U-15 doubles event, “It was a great experience for me considering I was playing my own partner in the singles final Tournaments like these are a great learning for us, and we look forward to many such competitions”
“I would also like to thank our coach Gopi sir who is helping us get better and better,” Farooqui was quoted as saying in a release.
Gayatri Pullela is the daughter of former All-England Badminton Open champion and current coach of Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu, Pullela Gopichand.