Very proud of Gayatri’s performance and the way she conducted herself: Pullela Gopichand

India witnessed a historic moment in New Delhi as young shuttlers Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand secured a BWF World Championships medal in women’s doubles after a 15-year wait.

Ranked World No. 39 before the tournament, the pair defeated three seeded opponents to claim bronze in front of a home crowd.

“I think being in that medalists’ club, I feel so happy. There is a lot of journey we have in the future. I feel like this is just the start. We just need to take this as a positive and in a confident way. Even that Arjuna award that was announced this week, I feel like that also gave us some other boost in this tournament,” said Treesa, reflecting on their breakthrough performance.

The achievement held special significance for Gayatri, who often faces added scrutiny on the international circuit as the daughter of legendary Indian player Pullela Gopichand.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t know if I can articulate it in that sense. But I think whenever my players have played, I think I’ve always had the same feeling. And there’s no extra for Gayatri. More than I’ve had for any of my players,” said Pullela Gopichand, sharing his perspective as a father.

He further praised their game: “I think overall they have a naturally good game. Decent serve, both of them serve well. Smash-wise, Treesa is very good. Gayatri is very strong at the net. They get those rhythms, patches of rhythms, which they’ve been very, very good at.”

A tournament to remember

The duo enjoyed a highly successful week and will now look to build on the lessons from this tournament as they progress in their careers and prepare for bigger challenges.

The medal feels even more special, especially after Treesa’s long injury spell that forced her to miss a couple of major tournaments earlier this year.

“We have made so many upsets and so much progress, and it’s such a great week for us. So many great matches we played and so many things to take away from this tournament,” said Treesa, reflecting on their memorable campaign in New Delhi.

Their run ended in the semi-finals, where they finished second-best against world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning, losing in three games. However, a medal had already been secured.

“In the second set, they played very patiently, and I think we couldn’t match both of those things. I mean, it happens. I think the backcourt was controlling pretty well,” Gayatri said, pointing out what went wrong in the match.

“If I had supported a little more from the net, we could have pulled off the second set. But also in the third set, there were a few points which we could have converted, but the rhythm didn’t come. I think first of all, I would like to thank the team behind us,” she added.

The pair had begun the tournament on a high after the Ministry announced them as Arjuna Awardees in recognition of their consistent performances on the circuit.

“I’m very proud of the way she’s played. With God’s grace, in a family… there are two Arjuna awardees. Two players, two Arjuna awardees. It’s rare. I’m grateful to God for this. And yes, I’m very proud of her performance and her results. And the way she’s conducted herself,” said Pullela Gopichand, expressing his feelings about Gayatri’s medal and Arjuna Award.

Attention now turns to the Asian Games, less than a month away in Japan, where the Indian contingent will aim to carry this momentum forward and secure more medals.

“Well, I think as of now, what’s happening is that each one has a dedicated team allotted to them. So we have Lakshya Sen, we have Ayush Shetty, we have Kidambi Srikanth or Tharun. Or whether it’s the girls – PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda, Tanvi (Sharma), Devika (Sihag),” said Pullela Gopichand, who is also India’s national badminton coach.

“So they get back to work. Some of them are playing tournaments. They play the China Masters. So I think they’re all now at a stage of their career that they’re all professional in that sense. They have a team to work with. So we get along and move on to the Asian Games,” he added.