The young women’s pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand continued India’s medal run at the World Championships, but the men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty missed out on a third medal after losing in the quarterfinals here on Friday.
Treesa, who has spent several weeks nursing her ankle after suffering an injury in April, combined with Gayatri to produce a performance of a lifetime and see off the world No. 4 Chinese pair of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian 16-21 21-15 21-13.
The win took them to the semifinals and ensured at least a bronze medal.
India last claimed a BWF World Championships medal in women’s doubles in 2011, when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze in London. It was also the year when the country began its run of winning a medal at every edition of the prestigious tournament, with Treesa and Gayatri continuing the trend.
However, it turned out to be a bad day for world No. 5 Satwik and Chirag as they went down 18-21 9-21 in just 36 minutes against China’s world No. 3 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the men’s doubles quarterfinals.
While it was the end of the road for Satwik and Chirag, another top Chinese pair stands in the way of Treesa and Gayatri’s place in the final.
“I think just being calm and patient and just being in the present moment, that is actually what we need to do to score points against them. That kind of mindset was there. I think that really worked,” said Gayatri, who was overwhelmed with emotion after the win as she and her partner hugged chief coach Pullela Gopichand.
Treesa and Gayatri, who have plummeted to world No. 39 from world No. 9 following injuries and a lack of form, will face the world No. 1 Chinese pair of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning next.
“I think right now, just processing this one, we are going to the semi-finals and being on the podium. But it’s not finished yet. This is not the ending. We came here with a goal,” said Treesa, who, along with Gayatri, had reached the All England Open semi-finals in 2022 and 2023.