New Delhi: India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face China’s Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning in the women’s doubles semi final at the BWF World Championships on Saturday, with the Indian duo chasing a place in the title clash after securing a historic medal.
Treesa and Gayatri produced a stunning comeback in their quarterfinal against world No. 4 Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian on Friday. Their victory guaranteed India a medal and ended a long wait in the women’s doubles event. The achievement marks India’s first medal in this category at the World Championships since 2011, when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze.
The Indian pair will now face another formidable Chinese combination in the semi final. Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning will present a major challenge as Treesa and Gayatri look to continue their memorable run and secure a place in the final.
Meanwhile, India’s men’s doubles campaign suffered a setback as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The world No. 5 Indians, who had previously won bronze at the 2022 and 2025 World Championships, lost 18-21, 9-21 to China’s world No. 3 pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in 36 minutes.
Satwik and Chirag made a strong start and led 11-10 at the interval in the opening game. They were still ahead at 16-14 before a series of errors allowed the Chinese pair to regain control. Liang and Wang eventually took the game 21-18.
The second game was more one sided. The Chinese duo quickly established a 9-4 advantage and maintained relentless pressure through fast exchanges and sharp attacking play. They led 11-5 at the interval and extended the gap after the restart before closing out the match 21-9.
With Satwik and Chirag eliminated, India’s hopes now rest heavily on Treesa and Gayatri, who are aiming to create history by reaching the World Championship final.
