Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Rise to World No. 27

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand have climbed 12 places to world No. 27 in the latest rankings update after winning a historic bronze medal at the recently concluded BWF World Championships. The Indian women’s doubles pair rose from No. 39 and now hold 44,192 ranking points.

The rise follows a landmark run at the home World Championships, where Treesa and Gayatri secured India’s only medal. Their bronze also made them the first Indian women’s doubles pair to win a medal at the Championships since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed bronze in 2011.

For Indian badminton, the result extended the country’s run of winning at least one medal at the World Championships since 2011. The rankings move gives the pair a significant reward for their performance on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

Historic World Championships run drives rankings leap

Treesa and Gayatri entered the latest rankings update at world No. 39 with 33,692 points. Their World Championships bronze lifted their total by 10,500 points to 44,192, resulting in a 12-place jump to No. 27.

The pair’s route to the medal included a notable quarter-final comeback against fourth-seeded Chinese duo Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian. After losing the opening game 16-21, the Indian pair recovered strongly to take the next two games 21-15 and 21-13.

That victory sent Treesa and Gayatri into the semi-finals and ensured a medal-winning finish. It was a breakthrough result in the women’s doubles event for India, ending a 15-year wait for another World Championships medal from an Indian pair in the discipline.

The source also noted that Treesa and Gayatri were a game ahead against world No. 1 and defending champions Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning before losing the following two games. Their overall campaign nevertheless concluded with bronze, India’s sole medal at the Championships.

The new ranking of No. 27 places Treesa and Gayatri substantially higher than they were one week earlier and reflects the value of their medal-winning campaign. Their quarter-final victory over the fourth seeds and their progress through the latter rounds were central to the increase.

Men’s singles rankings also see major changes

The latest update brought significant movement in the men’s singles top 10 as well. Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie became the new world No. 1 after climbing two places from third, despite a round-of-16 finish at the World Championships.

Shi Yuqi, who had been world No. 1 in the previous week’s update, dropped five places to No. 6 after a first-round defeat to India’s Ayush Shetty. Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Anders Antonsen each fell one position from No. 2 and No. 4 respectively.

Elsewhere, Christo Popov moved up three places to No. 2, while Chou Tien Chen gained two places to reach fourth. New world champion Alex Lanier climbed three positions to No. 7.

India also had positive movement in men’s singles, with Lakshya Sen rising one place to No. 13 and Ayush Shetty improving by two places to world No. 20. The headline Indian gain, however, came from Treesa and Gayatri, whose bronze medal has delivered a major boost and a new career ranking position of world No. 27.