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Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advance, avenging a past defeat and setting sights on a World Championships medal.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in action (Picture credit: BAI Media)
Star Indian women’s doubles duo Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela continued their brilliant run on Thursday, knocking out another seeded pair as they swept aside seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi, leaving the latter in tears after the match.
The Indian and Japanese pairs had met just once before on the BWF Tour, at the 2023 Indonesia Open, where Iwanaga and Nakanishi prevailed in three games. Three years on, Treesa and Gayatri have turned the tables, avenging that loss emphatically.
The match wasn’t without its share of drama. The first game was uneventful, with Treesa and Gayatri pulling away after the interval to take it 21-16. Early in the second, however, the Indians raised a complaint over a late challenge from the Japanese pair, but Iwanaga and Nakanishi were lucky as they got a point off it.
Treesa and Gayatri raced to an 11-4 lead at the second-game interval. Soon after the break, however, Treesa was shown a yellow card for ‘misconduct’.
Asked during the media interaction on what went wrong, Treesa said, “I showed the umpire the shuttle and he just shoved it away as an ‘excuse’ and showed me the card. But it’s okay, those things keep happening on court.”
Gayatri also explained how having her father-cum-coach Pullela Gopichand in the coaching box isn’t just helpful but fun too.
“It is great. It is really fun being on court with him. He can be a bit strict at times, but he is also a huge source of support,” Gayatri said.
But the Japanese were visibly shattered and admitted to the pressure that the Indians applied on them, to which they succumbed.
“Our opponents had some real strengths in their game. They came at us with tremendous intensity today and gave it everything they had, which put us under a lot of pressure. I think that was when they were at their best,” Nakanishi said, holding back her tears.
Treesa and Gayatri will next face fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, against whom they have lost all three of their previous meetings. Their most recent encounter came at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, where the Indians went down 22-24, 18-21.
Treesa and Gayatri will need another standout performance on Friday, with a victory over the Chinese duo guaranteeing them a World Championships medal and ending India’s 15-year wait for a women’s doubles medal at the event.
Key Questions Answered
Ask News18Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand can win a World Championships medal if they secure a victory in their upcoming match against a Chinese duo on Friday.
Ask News18August 20, 2026, 2:16 PM IST
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