London: When the year started, India’s premier women’s doubles pair, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, were operating in sync, showcasing their rapid playing style that previously carried them to a career-best ranking of world No.9 last year.
“While practicing, I had this ankle twist. “That situation was a struggling point. It feels so bad when you get injured and miss a lot of tournaments. “Gayatri was very supportive. She was telling me, ‘Take your time and come back. “For Treesa, overcoming an injury is a journey for sure, mentally and physically. Once Treesa’s ankle healed, the duo made a strategic decision to enter the Philippine International Challenge in Manila, stepping down a grade to re-establish match fitness. The move paid off as they navigated through the field to capture the title. “Even though it was an International Challenge, there were some really good pairs. We’ve definitely gained some confidence from this tournament. “We are really excited that it’s happening in India. This is our first time playing such a prestigious tournament in India.
However, on April 1, an injury halted their momentum during a training session. Our ranking also went down which created a little bit of confusion and doubt (in my mind),” said the 23-year-old. Among the tournaments they missed, the two most important ones were the Asia Championships and Uber Cup, following which their ranking dipped from No.20 in January to 58 in June.
But for me, for those 2-3 months, I just wanted to practice and keep myself fit so that when she’s back… it’s not easy to start off.
When we took the MRI and all, it showed two ligament tears and two higher grade muscle tears,” Treesa told HT. All the support I got from her and the coaches helped me figure out all those things more easily,” she said. It’s not really easy to come back after an injury and suddenly push to that extent,” Gayatri told HT. “It feels great to be back on the podium,” said Gayatri, who is supported by Welspun. The crowd, the hometown fan base… that gives us an extra boost of energy rather than pressure,” said Treesa.
