There is no warning. Before that happened, there was little sign that Jolly and Gayatri would have achieved good results on the HSBC BWF World Tour early in their careers. But in the first quarter of the season, the young women's doubles duo's performance was enough to show that they could become a new hope for India's women's doubles.
At the end of last year, Jolly and Gayatri were ranked 115th outside the 100th world ranking. They have achieved good results in lower-level competitions – such as winning the 2021 India International Challenge and runner-up at the 2021 Poland International and 2021 Wales International Competitions – but they are still a long way from the top players.
Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (left) and Treesa Jolly.
However, they then rose rapidly in 2022. After withdrawing from the India Open due to testing positive for COVID-19, Jolly and Gayatri reached the final of the Super 300, won the Orissa Open, and after a brief defeat in the second round of the German Open, defeated second seeds Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan in the quarterfinals of the All England Open to advance to the semifinals.
A day earlier, they had held the lead against Polly and Rahayu until Rahayu was injured and the Pair of Olympic champions had to withdraw from the tournament.
"They're my favorite doubles combination. I've been following them since I started playing doubles. It's great to beat them, and I'm happy," said the articulate Prera, who was very calm even though it was the biggest stage she's ever been on.
"This is the first Super 1000 event we have participated in and we are delighted to be in the quarter-finals. They are legends, but when we play on the pitch, everyone is our opponent," Jolly added.
If the victory is attributed to the injury of the opponent, then the Indian duo's victory in the quarter-finals is very valuable, as they won against Lee Shao-hee and Shin Seung-joon, achieving the biggest underdog of the All England Open so far.
The Indian duo had a very easy time playing against Lee So-hee/Shin Seung-joong, who sped up their attacks in due course, especially Jolly, who broke the South Korean duo's defense with heavy blows and speed.
"We're not stressed," Jolly said. "We know they're good attacking players. Their strength and speed are very good. After the second game, we got a certain grasp of their attack and speed, and we started attacking. ”
"I didn't know what to say, I felt it was very unreal. I got goosebumps all over my body," Gauterrie said. Her surname is well known because her father was the 2001 All England Champion.
"We just did our best. When we were trailing 18-20 in the second set, we just thought we had to stay the course and chase the opponent point by point.
"I thought we wouldn't be able to play in this game. The moment we qualified, we were excited to play with the world's top players and I was very excited. It's already semi-final and I'm happy. I appreciate it.
"I think it's great, it's great to be in the semi-finals, I'm very excited."
The semi-finals piqued their interest in the larger challenges that might come ahead.
"The experience was great," Ghatri said. "We're a little nervous, but more experience can calm people down. This is a big step forward. I guess that's just the beginning. ”