Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian to assure India a World Championships women's doubles medal
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand came from a game down to beat China's fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian 16-21, 21-15, 21-13 in the quarter-final of the BWF World Championships on 21 August 2026, guaranteeing India a women's doubles medal for the first time since Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta won bronze in 2011.
The win ended a 14-year absence from the women's doubles podium at the World Championships and halted a run of three consecutive defeats to the same Chinese pairing; Jolly and Gopichand had entered the quarter-final after straight-game victories in the Round of 64, Round of 32 and the pre-quarter-finals, each completed in under an hour.
The match began badly for the Indians as Jolly gave away the first two points — one from a baseline error and another on a failed return — and the Chinese pair surged to a 4-0 lead; a 57-shot rally early in the match ended with the Indians sending the shuttle out, and India only opened their account after a rare lapse from Jia and Zhang, prompting loud reactions from the home crowd.
China pushed to 8-2 before Jolly and Gopichand adjusted their approach, with Gopichand producing powerful smashes and Jolly improving at the net to reel off six consecutive points and close to 8-9; Jia and Zhang still led 11-8 at the interval and went on to take the first game 21-16.
The second game saw an immediate change of tempo as Jolly took the first point and India stayed close despite an early Chinese lead; a 48-shot exchange moved the score to 4-5, India led for the first time before the interval, and an unsuccessful Indian challenge left them without reviews for the remainder of the game as they raised their aggression and closed the set 21-15 after a 43-shot rally at 15-14.
The decider was tightly contested until India pulled clear, every Indian point met by growing volume from the crowd as Jolly and Gopichand kept their composure to finish 21-13; the victory also represented the first time the Indian pair had beaten Jia and Zhang after three previous meetings.
The win sends Jolly and Gopichand into the semi-finals of the BWF World Championships and ensures India has won at least one medal at every edition of the World Championships since 2011.
