PETALING JAYA: Indian shuttlers Treesa Jolly-Gayathri Gopichand have largely flown under the radar this year but could be a surprise threat in the World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou.
The women’s doubles pair ended their two-year title drought when they emerged champions in the Syed Modi International after beating China’s Bao Lijing-Li Qian 21-18, 21-11 in Lucknow on Sunday.
It was a historic victory for world No. 16 Treesa-Gayathri as they became the first home women’s doubles duo to lift the title.
The win was a confidence boost for the pair after they booked their spots in the Tour Finals for the first time.
Treesa-Gayathri will join Malaysia’s Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, China’s Paris Olympics gold medallists Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan, Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning, South Korea’s Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee, Japan’s Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida, Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi and Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji-Amalia Cahaya in the prestigious season ender.
While the Indians, who are both only 21, have not received the same attention as the likes of Qingchen-Yifan and Shengshu-Tan Ning, they could pose a tricky challenge.
Treesa-Gayathri proved their capabilities when they stunned Ha-na-So-hee and another Korean pair, world No. 9 Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong en-route to reaching the last four of the Singapore Open in June.
The youngsters also caught the eye when they made it into the same stage in the 2023 All-England.
Treesa-Gayathri missed out on the Paris Games after they were overtaken by teammates Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto in the qualifying race but have put that disappointment behind them and will be out to end their year on a high by making a positive impression in the Tour Finals.
The pair said that it was a dream come true for them to capture the Syed Modi crown and qualify for the Finals.
“I’m so happy, I’m not getting any words. I used to see players winning this tournament on television and I’d dream that I’d also win, so I’m very happy,” Treesa told the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Gayathri said “This time we were really positive. The whole week was intense. The final felt unreal, I’m at a loss for words. We’ve always watched the top pairs at the World Tour Finals and now we’re going to play there!”
Surprisingly, Treesa-Gayathri were the only Indians to make the cut for the Finals while their more illustrious teammates like Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (men’s doubles), Lakshya Sen (men’s singles) and P. V. Sindhu all missed out.
