Treesa-Gayatri clinch maiden World Championships bronze after fighting semifinal loss

New Delhi: The extraordinary run of India's Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand ended with a fighting three-game loss to world No. 1 and defending champions Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China in the women's doubles semifinals at the World Championships here on Saturday, as the Indian pair signed off with a maiden bronze medal.

The unseeded Indians produced a sensational start to pocket the opening game but could not maintain the pressure against the mighty Chinese pair, going down 21-18, 13-21, 8-21 in an hour and 11 minutes.

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

On Friday, the duo had staged a stunning comeback against China's Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian to storm into the women's doubles semi-finals, assuring themselves of at least a bronze medal. The unseeded Indian pair, who were on a comeback trail following Treesa's ankle injury, battled for one hour and nine minutes to defeat the fourth-seeded Chinese duo 16-21, 21-15, 21-13.

Friday's victory made Treesa the first Malayali woman to win a medal at the BWF World Championships. The Kannur native was conferred the Arjuna Award earlier this week.

H S Prannoy, who won a bronze in the men's singles at the 2023 World Championships, is the only other Malayali to have won a medal at the event.

The win also ended India's 15-year wait for a World Championships medal in women's doubles. The country's last medal in the event came in 2011, when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze in London.

(With PTI inputs)