Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand insist 'not finished' after BWF Worlds semi in India
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand secured a place on the podium at the BWF World Championships in India on 21 August 2026, but said their campaign is not over. "Right now just processing this one kind of we are into the semifinals and being on the podium but it's not finished yet. This is not the ending. We came here with a goal," Treesa said after the quarter-final win.
The result ended a 15-year wait for an Indian women's doubles medal at the World Championships, the first since Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta won bronze in 2011. This tournament is the pair's third World Championship appearance and their first on home soil. "Actually this is our 3rd world championship, and it's happening in India and in the home soil," Treesa said. "I think the crowd was so amazing and the crowd that gave us that confidence even we lost the first game also they were in full Josh that, 'Come on, come on girls, you can do this' and I think that really helped us."
The quarter-final victory came against fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, a Chinese combination the Indians had never beaten in three previous meetings. After dropping the opening game 16-21, Jolly and Gopichand won the second 21-15 and closed out the decider 21-13 to reach the last four. The win guaranteed India a women's doubles medal at the World Championships for the first time since 2011.
The Chinese pair established an early advantage to take the first game, but the Indian duo raised their level after the interval as the home crowd grew louder with each point. That shift in momentum underpinned the comeback that allowed Jolly and Gopichand to overturn their earlier deficit. The victory provided the Indians with belief against opponents who had previously dominated their head-to-head.
The challenge was heightened by the presence of Jia Yi Fan, described in the report as an Olympic gold medallist, a pedigree Treesa said added significance to the win. "When we started playing at this level, she was an Olympic gold medallist," Treesa said. "When you beat someone like that, it is kind of a compliment for us and a confidence boost for both of us."
That confidence will be vital in the semi-finals, where the Indians face another formidable challenge, and the players have made clear they will not be satisfied with merely securing a medal. Now, with the home crowd behind them and a semi-final place secured, Jolly and Gopichand will contest the last four with the aim of improving on the podium finish already guaranteed.
