Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela secure World Championships women's doubles bronze in New Delhi

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela received the bronze medal in the women's doubles at the BWF World Championships 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on August 23, 2026. The Indian flag was raised at the stadium as the unseeded pair were presented with their medals.

The podium finish brought India its first women's doubles medal at the World Championships since 2011 and closed a week of competition at the New Delhi venue. The unseeded Indian duo reached the semifinals after beating reigning Olympic champion Jia Yifan and her partner Zhang Shuxian in the quarterfinals, before losing to China's Liu-Tan in the semifinal.

Speaking at the presentation, Gayatri Gopichand said, “We’ll cherish this medal forever.” The remark came amid the ceremony that marked the conclusion of their run at the tournament and celebrated the pair's breakthrough on home soil.

Reflecting on the matches, Gayatri added: “We were just so happy after the quarter-final match. And even in the semi-finals match, we gave 100%. It just wasn’t our day,” conveying the pair's satisfaction at their quarterfinal victory and disappointment at the semifinal outcome.

For coach Pullela Gopichand, the result validated recent preparation, with the coach saying, “It’s good to see when the practice you do actually gives you dividends on court,” on Saturday (August 22, 2026). The coach had described the medal as reflecting six weeks of work paying off.

Treesa addressed an injury-hit spell that had raised questions about their form, saying: “We both are here to do something big. What we can show is our result. I think we did that.” Her comments framed the podium finish as evidence of the pair's comeback.

They now turn towards the Asian Games, with Treesa noting the Chinese pair remains on their minds and urging belief: “It’s obviously a matter of time. Just believe in yourself that you can beat them,” Treesa said.