Unseeded Treesa-Gayatri assure India of doubles medal at the Worlds

A day after P.V. Sindhu, — a former champion and five-time medallist — and Ayush Shetty bit the dust in the BWF World Championships, it was left to the doubles challenge to make Indian fans smile again. The unseeded duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand punched above their weight to shock fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian of China in the women’s doubles quarter-finals to ensure that India has its first women's doubles medal since 2011 — when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed bronze in London.

In Delhi, Treesa and Gayatri lost the opening game 16-21 before mounting a gritty comeback to take the second 21-15. They carried that momentum into the decider, sealing the match with a dominant 21-13 victory to guarantee at least a bronze.

"The match was very difficult and hence the emotions,'' the pair said after a round of emotional celebrations. ''We are still processing the result and really happy that we converted the match. We don't want to stop here, we have come here with a goal and looking forward. The crowd was amazing today and pushed us towards the win," said Gayatri and Treesa.

Treesa-Gayatri will next take on top seeds Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning in the semi-final on Saturday.

The pair had began their campaign with an equally dominant first-round victory over Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez, winning 21-9, 21-13 in just over 30 minutes. They followed up another commanding performance in the round of 32, defeating 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Lee of the USA 21-15, 21-12. 

In the Round of 16, they produced another big upset when they stunned seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan 21-16, 21-12 to reach the quarter-finals. That victory made them the first Indian women’s doubles pair to reach the World Championships quarter-finals since 2015.

It’s the only guaranteed podium finish for India so far at this event, as singles stars Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Unnati Hooda and Ayush, along with other contenders, have been eliminated earlier in the tournament. The Satwik-Chirag duo are lined up against the Chinese pair of W.K. Liang and C. Wang in the men’s doubles quarter finals on Friday evening.