Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lose in the finals of the US Open Grand Prix Gold

Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy failed to cross the final hurdle

After having an exceptional run throughout the tournament, the Indian Men’s Doubles pairing of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy failed to cross the final hurdle at the US Open Grand Prix Gold, losing 21-12 21-16 in the summit clash to China’s Li Junhui and Yuchen Liu on Sunday.

The opening game saw the Indian pair take an early lead 3-0 lead and maintain that lead for a while until the Chinese pair made a comeback into the match, winning 3 points consecutively to break the deadlock at the 8-8 mark and go 11-8 up. Moments later, Attri and Reddy were pegged back significantly when at the 12-12 mark when the duo of Junhui and Liu won a sensational 9 points on the trot to take the first game 21-12,

Riding on the high of that brilliant streak, the Chinese pair took the early 2-0 lead, but determined to stay in the contest, Attri and Reddy made a quick comeback, to first draw level at 2-2 and then win 4 points straight to go 6-2 up. But Junhui and Liu stormed back into the contest to win 4 points of their own and then further take the lead to put the pressure back on the Indian duo.

But the decisive turn in the match came at the 8-8 mark, when the Chinese pair won 4 points on the trot to go 12-8 up and then continued to further built that advantage by winning 5 more points to go 17-9 up. That 9-point surge all but sealed the match for Junhui and Liu and they eventually won 21-16.

Despite the loss, though, it has been a fantastic ride for the Indian doubles, who probably weren't given a great chance to make it this far, but courtesy some fine performances, they crossed every roadblock on their way to reach the final, only to succumb over there.

Final Scoreline- Li Junhui/Yuchen Liu(CHN) beat Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy(IND) 21-12 21-16