World No 39 Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand confirmed a historic medal for India at the BWF World Championships 2026, defeating fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China in the women’s doubles quarterfinals at the Indira Gandhi Arena in New Delhi on Friday.

The unseeded Indian pair lost the opening game 16-21 before mounting a gritty comeback to take the second 21-15. They carried that momentum into the decider, sealing the match with a dominant 21-13 victory to guarantee India’s first women’s doubles medal at the World Championships since 2011, when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed bronze in London.

Treesa-Gayatri pair began their campaign with a dominant Round of 64 victory over Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez, winning 21-9, 21-13 in just over 30 minutes. They followed that with another commanding performance in the Round of 32, defeating 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Lee of the USA 21-15, 21-12.

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In the Round of 16, they produced another big upset, stunning seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan 21-16, 21-12 to reach the quarterfinals. That victory made them the first Indian women’s doubles pair to reach the World Championships quarterfinals since 2015.

The medal confirmation is particularly significant as it is the only guaranteed podium finish for India so far at this event, with singles stars PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Unnati Hooda and Ayush Shetty, along with other contenders, having been eliminated earlier in the tournament.

The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty remain in contention for another medal. The fifth seeds will face Chinese third seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the quarterfinals later on Friday. A victory for Satwik-Chirag would confirm India’s second medal at the World Championships.