“It was a great feeling to have made it so deep into the draw, but the loss today was just a dampener,” Gill said, speaking to Sportline after the match.

Keen on singles
The difference between the two pairs might have been vast on Tuesday, but Gill attributed it to the fact that they don’t practice with each other as a pair. Though they train together at Gill’s father Surjit Singh’s academy in Pitampura, the two are keener singles players.

“We don’t really practice much as a pair. Our only practice was all our matches here,” Sahdev said.

The pair had made the nationals quarter-finals last year and in the absence of many tournaments this year, were seeded third in Indore based on that result.

The one win they are extremely proud of, anyhow, was Monday’s over a very useful pairing of Allwin Francis and P Jyotsna. The Delhi pair won 21-19 21-18. “It was a close match, and we just concentrated on keeping the shuttle in play and not making mistakes. That was a really good win,” Gill said.

Sahdev was the quieter of the two in the semi-final, going into a shell as the attacks from Gutta and Diju got too much to handle. Then, close to the finish of the second game, she got hit near her eye by a smash from Gutta. “It feels fine now, though at times, added to everything, I was afraid it was something serious,” Sahdev said.