NEW DELHI: From outsiders to medal winners. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced victory for the ages to confirm a medal in the ongoing BWF World Championships here.
The decibel volumes hit its crescendo when Treesa and Gayatri, after a marathon battle, reached the promised land. Fifteen years ago, India's medal streak at the World Championships had been set to motion by women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa. After PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty's exit on Thursday, India were in serious danger of missing out on a medal this time. It was fitting that Treesa and Gayatri, with the support of noisy home crowd, could maintain that streak.
Up against a formidable pair in the form of Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China, things were not looking good after the opening game, which the Indians lost.
Even in the second game, they were playing the chasing game but the match completely turned on its head after the mid-stage. The Indians played with more purpose and forced the Chinese pair to err on several occasions. Four straight towards quelled any hopes of fightback from the Chinese pair.
The Indians had momentum on their side and after a slow start, they walked away with the third game to reach the finish line. It was a complete dominance in the third game as the Chinese duo just couldn't connect the shuttle with their racquets properly, making mistakes after mistakes.
For Gayatri and Treesa, it was matter of keeping a calm head and applying the finishing touches. They executed that to perfection. In the end, the scoreline read 16-21, 21-15, 21-13 in Gayatri and Treesa's favour.
The last time India had hosted the World Championships - 2009 in Hyderabad, the shuttlers from the country had failed to medal.