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 rememberThe 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 report has been adapted by the PurePlay Sports Desk from coverage by The Hindu Sportstar, NDTV Sports, The Bridge, Google News — India Sports, Khel Now.