Indian flag rises as Treesa-Gayatri receive historic World Championships bronze
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand secured a historic bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships, marking India's first women's doubles medal in the event since 2011. The pair overcame significant injury setbacks to achieve this milestone, signaling their competitive readiness for upcoming tournaments like the Asian Games.
Why it matters
This achievement represents a major breakthrough for Indian women's doubles badminton on the global stage, validating the training methodology of coach Pullela Gopichand and boosting the country's standing in international sports.
The Indian flag rose at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Sunday (August 23, 2026) as Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand received their World Championships bronze, bringing a ceremonial close to a week in which they gave India’s first women’s doubles medal since 2011.
“We’ll cherish this medal forever,” Gayatri said. The unseeded pair lost to China’s Liu-Tan in the semifinal after beating reigning Olympic champion Jia Yifan and her partner Zhang Shuxian in the quarterfinals.
“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,” Gayatri said.
For coach Pullela Gopichand, the medal reflected six weeks of work paying off. “It’s good to see when the practice you do actually gives you dividends on court,” he said on Saturday (August 22, 2026).
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