Treesa-Gayatri refuse to celebrate yet, say 'job not done' after assuring medal

Calmness and patience were the key ingredients in Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand's historic run to the World Championships semi-finals, but the Indian pair are refusing to get carried away after assuring themselves of a medal.

Treesa and Gayatri staged a stunning comeback to beat China's Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian 16-21, 21-15, 21-13 in the women's doubles quarter-finals on Friday, becoming the first Indian women's doubles pair since 2011 to assure themselves of a World Championships medal.

India's last women's doubles medal at the BWF World Championships came in 2011, when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze in London.

"Just being calm and patient and being in the present moment, that's actually what we needed to do to score points against them. That kind of mindset was there, and I think that really worked," Gayatri told reporters after the victory.

For Treesa, the magnitude of the win only began to sink in towards the end of the deciding game. "I think when we got the last 21 points. With those kind of players, when you actually win, that's when we process it," she said.

"But right now, we're just processing this one. We are going to the semi-finals and we're on the podium. But it's not finished yet. This is not the ending. We came here with a goal."

The achievement carries added significance for the pair as this is their third World Championships appearance, and their first on home soil. "This is our third World Championship, and it's happening in India and on home soil. The crowd was so amazing. I think that really helped us," Treesa said.

The Indians will face top seeds Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China in the semi-finals. But Gayatri insisted they were not going to be distracted by the occasion or the stature of their opponents.

"We don't want to think too much. We don't want to think about the outcome too much. We just want to get on court first," she said. "I think we are playing well and we just want to keep doing that and see what happens."

Treesa also drew confidence from the praise she received from Jia Yifan, the Olympic champion who won the Paris Games women's doubles gold with Chen Qingchen. "When I started playing, when she won the Olympics and world medal, it's like she is a good player. Beating her is kind of a confidence boost for both of us," Treesa said. 

The Indians had built a sizeable lead in the deciding game, but Gayatri said they repeatedly reminded each other not to lose focus. "We were constantly telling each other, 'It's not over yet, it's not over yet.' We had a huge lead in the third set, but we just kept telling each other it wasn't over yet," she said.

Now, with a medal already assured, the Indian pair have their sights set on going one step further — and they intend to do it with the same calmness and patience that brought them this far.