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Exclusive | Ice, fire and a fine line: Sumeeth Reddy reveals the secret behind Treesa-Gayatri’s World Championships run
According to Sumeeth Reddy, the pair were unfazed by the challenge ahead despite being unseeded at an event of such stature.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand have made sure India remain hopeful of a medal in the women’s category at BWF World Badminton Championships 2026. The Indian pair had a tricky road ahead of the mega event, especially after Treesa suffered an injury earlier in 2026 that kept her out of several major tournaments. With the World Championships drawing closer, the pressure was beginning to build, but they managed to get the perfect tune-up at the Philippine International Challenge, where they emerged victorious and regained some much-needed confidence.
However, the Indian pair were unseeded at the World Championships, making their journey so far nothing short of an underdog story. They stunned seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in the round of 16, giving Indian fans hope of a medal. But a tougher challenge awaited them in the quarterfinals against fourth seeds Zhang Shuxian and Jia Yifan.
Deep Dive
The Indian pair, though, put on a performance to be proud of, beating the higher-ranked Chinese duo to book their place in the semifinals and secure a medal for India.
According to Treesa’s coach, the pair were unfazed by the challenge ahead despite being unseeded at an event of such stature, especially with the added pressure of playing in front of the home crowd.
B Sumeeth Reddy, in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times Digital, spoke about the confidence within the Indian pair right from the beginning. He revealed that Treesa and Gayatri were never too concerned about their own seeding or that of their opponents, choosing instead to focus on their game and the challenge in front of them.
“Not really [on any pressure of playing top-seeded players], because we were pretty confident that if the girls play well, they can beat any good pair, with the confidence that they were showing in practice. I think we were not very concerned about the draw," Sumeeth told Hindustan Times.
That belief has now taken them one step closer to a World Championship medal on home soil. Sumeeth explained how the contrasting ice and fire personalities of the two shuttlers have worked in their favour, with Treesa bringing in the aggression and Gayatri keeping her in check. He said finding the right balance between the two has been crucial, especially in the pressure moments of their matches.
“That's how they are, and their nature is like that. That's how they are, and I think that really helped, especially, you know, Trisha needs to be fired up, and then we need to calm her down a little bit so that she's not over-smashing. So, I think that is an important thing, and there's, like I said, a fine line between doing more and doing less. I think we need to stay very close to that line, and today I think they have done it tremendously well," he explained.
The aggressiveness was quite on display on Friday when the two players were charged up, especially in the final game and outshone the Chinese pair with some serious speed. The latter failed to handle back-to-back smashes, and it disrupted their rhythm.
Pullela Gopichand in the picture too!
Sumeeth also shed light on the work that went into sharpening Treesa and Gayatri's games ahead of the World Championships. He revealed that coach Pullela Gopichand focused specifically on Treesa’s net play and Gayatri’s backcourt game, with the aim of creating a more effective combination against the world’s top pairs.
“Gopi sir worked a lot on the net game of Trisha and also the backcourt of Gaya. I mean, that was a very selective decision to make sure that there's a significant change and the rallies were broken down into small bits and pieces, and then that's how he made sure that every stroke is taken care of in the best possible way," he added.
The next challenge will arguably be the biggest yet for Treesa and Gayatri in the semifinals, where they face world No. 1 pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. On paper, it looks like another uphill task, but from what we have seen so far from Treesa and Gayatri is that whenever they are pushed against the wall, they know how to fight their way out.
