Meet TreGa: Expectations rise of surprise medallists as Asiad looms

It had been a happening last week for TreGa, as India’s emerging badminton doubles pair of Treesa Jolly & Gayatri Gopichand has come to be known as. First came the Arjuna award as a mark of recognition—which perhaps egged on the unseeded pair to celebrate it with a bronze finish at the BWF World Championships in Delhi, providing the only silver lining in the hosts’ performance.

The podium finish, meanwhile, has pushed them up by 12 places in the BWF world rankings released on Monday—putting them at world No.27 and looking to mount a serious challenge in the Asian Games in about two months. ‘’TreGa is nice, we prefer that only. We are able to understand it is about us,’’ the young pair broke into a smile when asked about what nickname they preferred.

While Gayatri admits it’s not easy to carry the weight of expectations of the Gopichand surname, not many are aware of the sporting genes of her effervescent partner Treesa. While the daughter of Pullela Gopichand, the man credited with masterminding a badminton revolution of sorts in the country, learnt her first ropes at her father’s Hyderabad academy—Treesa’s father Jolly Matthew (a volleyball coach) took her through volleyball drills to improve her jump smashes.

Speaking to BAI (Badminton Association of India) YouTube channel a day after losing the semi-final to the Chinese world No.1 pair Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning to settle for bronze, both opened up on their journey, role of their parents and a rare taste of stardom. Gayatri was candid to admit that it had not been easy to ply her trade with that surname:  ‘’I think sometimes on court, I do feel that pressure but there is also a lot of guidance. And that is the better part of it. On court, there is not much time to think about my father. And outside pressure, there is already so much going on inside the match.

 ‘’When I go off the court, there are a lot of people who tell me 'You are Gopi sir’s daughter and you need to prove yourself'. But honestly, I think I am much better now. He just tells me to enjoy. I think (the pressure) is more for the people outside but for me, I don’t feel that as much. He often asks me: Do you feel pressurised because of this? I am like, no, it’s not that hard. I can deal with it.’’

Treesa, on the other hand, hails from a village in Kannur—more known for it’s volleyball culture but now shifting to her racket sport. "When I started playing, there was nothing in my village. Then after the Commonwealth Games medal (the duo had finished with a bronze in 2022), I can see so many courts now. Most students are coming to me,’’ an emotional Treesa said.

‘’My jump smash also is possibly because of my father making me train with volleyball drills at the start. When I was in Class I, I would do the volleyball jump serve. I had that strength and my sister also backed me a lot. There is also my friend Varshini at the academy who took care of me like a parent for those seven weeks I was injured, and couldn’t even go home.’’

The duo's bronze has come15 years after Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa gave India their first-ever women’s doubles bronze at the Worlds. The colour of the medal could have been different but TreGa fell short at the semi-final hurdle when after winning the first game, the match started started slipping away from them.

‘’It has been so eventful,’’ Gayatri looked back at the week in awe and the star status accorded to them. ‘’When we were walking in for our semi-final, I think it was amazing. There were so many people, like it was packed, it almost felt like a cricket stadium. It felt amazing, so yeah, I think we’ve played some amazing matches here—so much to learn from.

‘’I think we’re still improving, still learning and I think I just want to also thank my physios, trainers, coaches: they’ve worked so, so hard to put us in form and I’m just super happy with whatever has happened this week."