The Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had to settle for a bronze medal after being beaten in the semifinals of the BWF World Championships. After a bright start, the Indian duo lost momentum to go down 21-18 13-21 8-21 against China’s Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning. However, they will return to their home base of Hyderabad with a creditable bronze medal from the tournament as they beat three seeded pairs to reach the semifinals.Backed by the capacity crowd at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, the Indians raced to a commanding 7-2 lead in the first game. However, the Chinese hit back by winning 10 straight points. The momentum kept swinging as Treesa and Gayatri won six straight points to wrest back the lead.The rallies started to get longer and it was the defensive game that worked for the Indians as they won the opening game with a streak of five straight points while trailing 16-18.It was neck and neck in the second game, and for a bit the Indians had the Chinese under pressure. They took a 12-11 lead with deft net-play and powerful crosscourt smashes. But the momentum in the match shifted after a 49-shot rally won by the Chinese to level the game at 12-12. The Chinese flicked a switch and began to exploit the space between the Indians and forcing them into unforced errors. A lapse in focus from the Indians saw the opponents clinch eight straight points to take the match into the decider. The third game became one-sided. From 2-2 at the start, the Chinese flew away and closed out the match at 21-8.Treesa said that they wilted under Chinese pressure and failed to play the longer game. “I think today was just not our day. Towards the second half of the second game we lost our rhythm and they found theirs. They were constantly ahead of us in points and we just couldn’t catch up. When you play at this level, you need to be alert and in control on every point. Points go by in the blink of an eye. They were also charging a lot on the net. A few mistakes were made and that also undermined our confidence, creating doubts in our minds. I think we were also a bit too defensive at one point,” Treesa said.Gayatri added that their opponents used up all their experience to win the match. “They were also more patient while we were lacking, hurrying and wanting points. They are world No. 1 and we knew they won’t give easy points. But it’s been an amazing week, we played some great matches, lots to learn, including from today’s loss,” Gayatri said.Meanwhile, there was double delight for the French contingent as they sealed two final spots. The fifth-seeded mixed doubles combination of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue came from behind to upset the second-seeded Chinese pairing of Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin 19-21 21-13 21-11 to become the first ever French finalists in the World Championships.In the men’s singles, Alex Lanier saw off talented Canadian Victor Lai 16-21 21-13 21-14 to reach the final. He will Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, who beat Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 17-21 21-11 21-10Defending champion Akane Yamaguchi beat Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12 21-17 in the first women’s singles semifinal. Yamaguchi will play South Korea’s An Se Young for the title. The world No. 1 beat China’s Wang Zhi Yi 24-22 21-16.