Jolly/Pullela Live a Dream

A pair haunted by injury setbacks finally achieved their career’s biggest moment on home soil, beating one of the title favourites for their first BWF World Championships medal.

Treesa Jolly, whose ankle injury earlier this year had ruled her out of competition for three months, and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela came to the World Championships without much momentum, excepting a title win at the Philippine International Challenge. On Friday, they pulled off one of the biggest results of this edition, outplaying fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian to assure themselves of a medal.

It will be India’s second medal in women’s doubles after Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze in 2011.

The Chinese had blown past the Indians in the opening game, but once the Jolly and Pullela settled down, it was a different match. The Indians were all over their opponents in the third game, with Jia and Zhang struggling to fend off their attacks, and falling in a heap of errors: 16-21 21-15 21-13.

Such was the emotional high that both Jolly and Pullela broke down and struggled to compose themselves.

“Three days before the Badminton Asia Championships (April) I got injured,” said Jolly, who had suffered an ankle tear during training. “Obviously I was sad and emotional, but the whole team and my family supported me to recover as soon as possible. She (Gayatri) was also waiting for me.

“There are so many ups and downs over the years that we went through. Now we are in great shape and we want to continue that.

“We got positive vibes from the crowd, they were amazing today. From day one actually, they were behind us.”

“We had played them before and they never give up and they’re super quick,” Pullela said of their opponents. “We just wanted to be prepared and we changed a few things after the first game. We knew we’d have to work hard for it.”

One of the key reasons for their victory, Jolly said, was that they had stayed calm while gaining the lead.

“I messed up at a few tournaments due to my greed to get points. I still remember when we played the India Open, at crucial moments, if I had been calmer we could have scored and won the match. I told myself to be calm and keep the mind in the present, and that worked.

“When we started at this level (Jia) was Olympic gold medallist. To beat her is a confidence boost for us. We told ourselves to be calm and patient and be in the present moment.

“It was a dream for us to get a medal at the World Championships. Obviously you’ve seen the emotions. After coming from the injury, performing at this level, it’s what we love, and we enjoy this.”