New Delhi, August 20, 2026: India’s medal hopes at the BWF World Championships 2026 remained alive as Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty secured quarterfinal berths with impressive victories in New Delhi on Thursday.
Treesa and Gayatri produced a dominant performance to upset seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan 21-16, 21-12. The Indian pair, ranked 39th in the world, recovered brilliantly after trailing during the opening game before winning eight successive points to take control.
The second game was more straightforward, with the Indians using quick drops and crosscourt smashes to wrap up the contest in 44 minutes. They became the first Indian women’s doubles pair in 11 years to reach the World Championships quarterfinals, since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa achieved the feat in 2015.
Treesa and Gayatri will now face fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China in the last eight.
Satwik and Chirag also battled their way into the quarterfinals, overcoming Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King 21-23, 21-19, 21-17. After narrowly losing the opening game, the fifth-seeded Indians showed composure to fight back from 16-18 in the second game and force a decider.
The Indian duo trailed 12-15 in the final game but levelled at 17-17 before winning the next four points to seal victory. They will next face third seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China.
