Shikhar Dhawan lauds Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand after historic World Championships bronze

Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan praised Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand after their historic bronze at the BWF World Championships. The unseeded pair defeated three seeded combinations before becoming India's first women's doubles medallists since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa.

New Delhi: Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan on Sunday lauded shuttlers Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand for their historic bronze medal triumph at the ongoing BWF World Championships, adding that their remarkable campaign has been an inspiring journey to follow.

The unseeded Indian pair, ranked 39 in the world and bronze medal winners at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, put up a valiant fight before bowing out 21-18, 13-21, 8-21 against top seeds and reigning world champions Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China in a gripping women’s doubles semi-final contest spanning an hour and 11 minutes here at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

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Commending their effort, Dhawan took to micro-blogging site ‘X’ to celebrate the duo’s achievement. “From being unseeded to beating three seeded pairs and making the World Championships semifinals… what a journey! Take a bow, Treesa & Gayatri!” the former cricketer wrote on Sunday.

Treesa and Gayatri, the daughter of legendary shuttler Pullela Gopichand, had etched their names in the record books a day earlier after pulling off a gritty fightback win over fourth-seeded Chinese pair Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian.

The victory ensured the duo became the first Indian women’s doubles pair to secure a World Championships medal since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed bronze medal in London in 2011.

Their breakthrough performance also ensured that India’s remarkable streak of winning at least one medal at every edition of the World Championships since 2011 remained intact – a run spanning 15 years.

The streak started with Jwala and Ashwini ending a 28-year medal drought in 2011, after Prakash Padukone’s historic 1983 bronze. Over the years, two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu headlined the run with five medals, including her landmark 2019 gold medal win. Treesa and Gayatri will also be seen in action in the 2026 Asian Games, which will start in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan next month.