Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced a stunning comeback against China’s Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian to storm into the women’s doubles semifinals of the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi on Friday, becoming the first Indian women’s doubles pair in 15 years to secure a medal at the prestigious tournament.

The world No. 39 Indian pair, who entered the tournament unseeded, recovered from a slow start to defeat the Chinese combination 15-21, 21-16, 21-13 in the quarterfinal at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. The victory also guaranteed India a medal at the World Championships.

The achievement is particularly significant as Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were the last Indian women’s doubles pair to win a World Championships medal, claiming bronze in 2011.

The medal is India’s first guaranteed podium finish at the 2026 World Championships so far. PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Unnati Hooda and Ayush Shetty, among others, had been eliminated earlier in the tournament.

India can add another medal later on Friday, with fifth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty taking on Chinese third seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the men’s doubles quarterfinals. A victory for the Indian pair would guarantee a second medal for the hosts.

Slow start, Chinese pair take opening game

The Indian pair struggled to settle into the contest as Jia and Zhang raced to a 5-0 lead. Gayatri’s poor judgement made it 0-6 before India finally opened their account. Treesa then produced a smash for 2-6, but errors from the Indians allowed the Chinese pair to maintain their advantage.

India gradually found their rhythm. Gayatri’s drop and good judgement on the backline helped the Indians close the gap, while a Treesa smash brought them within a point at 8-9.

A net error from India allowed China to enter the mid-game interval with an 11-8 lead.

Gayatri continued to make an impact after the interval, making a good call on the backline before Treesa’s brilliant net play helped India regain the serve. A Gayatri smash then reduced the deficit to 11-13.

The Indians appeared to be building momentum. China hit wide to make it 12-13, and a brilliant defensive exchange from India ended with a Treesa smash to make it 13-15. Another Chinese error made it 14-15.

But India could not sustain the fightback. A net error and two successive wide shots allowed China to move ahead again. India managed another point at 15-18, but the Chinese pair regained control and reached game point at 20-15. Despite a late opportunity to fight back, Gayatri made an error in defence and China closed out the opening game 21-15.

Indians turn the match around

The second game began with another error from India at the net, although China immediately returned the favour with a wide shot. A wild smash and a wide shot from Gayatri then left India trailing 1-4.

The Indians slowly began to find their range. After trailing 1-5, they used better net play to move to 5-6, although a long shot from Gayatri and another Indian net error allowed China to retain the lead.

Two fortunate points helped India close the gap to 7-8 before a long serve and poor defence again put them under pressure.

Then came the turning point.

Gayatri unleashed a series of powerful smashes, helping India draw level at 10-10. China hit long on the next rally and India entered the interval with an 11-10 advantage.

The Indians continued to attack after the break. Gayatri’s net play made it 13-10 before a wide shot from Treesa and a wild Gayatri smash allowed China to close the gap.

India responded with another smash to move 14-12 ahead. A long serve from China extended the advantage, although a brilliant defensive rally from the Indians ended with China taking the point to make it 15-14.

The Indian pair then stepped up again.

A Chinese smash into the net made it 16-14. India continued to dictate the pace, and a long, smash-and-drop exchange followed by resolute defence eventually forced China into another error, giving the Indians an 18-15 lead.

China hit into the net again to make it 19-15. Gayatri then made an error at the net, but a Chinese shot went long to put India within one point of taking the game.

At 20-16, China again went long, and the Indians closed out the game 21-16.

India dominate the decider

The Indians began the deciding game with an error, Gayatri sending a wild smash into the net, but quickly recovered to establish a 4-2 lead.

At 1-4, the Chinese pair briefly appeared to have India under pressure, even catching both Indian players in the same area of the court. Treesa responded with a brilliant smash, and India immediately shifted the momentum.

The combination of disciplined defence and aggressive attack began to trouble the Chinese pair. Gayatri’s serve was followed by another Chinese net error before her smash forced a wild reply and extended India’s lead to 5-4.

India were now firmly in control.

China’s errors continued to mount as the Indians pressed them at the net. Treesa produced a fierce reply that forced the Chinese pair to hit long and wide, taking India to 8-4.

Even when India briefly showed signs of losing concentration, the pair recovered quickly and forced another Chinese error. China reduced the deficit to 9-5 with good net play, but the Indians maintained the pace.

Treesa was particularly effective around the net, repeatedly forcing the Chinese pair into difficult replies. A Chinese judgement error made it 11-5.

The Indians combined attack and defence brilliantly, although one shot went long at 11-6. Gayatri then engaged in a fierce net battle and forced another Chinese shot into the net as India moved to 12-6.

India were now dictating almost every exchange. They moved to 14-6 before China benefited from a fortunate point.

The Chinese pair tried to fight back with fast, aggressive exchanges. Treesa attempted to break the rhythm with a soft shot at the net but failed, allowing China to move to 14-8.

However, a Chinese error handed India the serve again.

A long serve from Gayatri made it 15-9, followed by a short Chinese serve. India continued to attack at the net and moved to 17-9. China then hit into the net before another wide reply took the Indians to 19-9.

There was a brief nervous spell for India as two soft replies from Treesa went into the net, allowing China to reduce the deficit to 19-11.

But the Indians held their nerve.

Treesa produced a flat shot that China could only return into the net, taking India to 20-11 and match point. Gayatri’s error made it 20-12, followed by another soft Treesa reply into the net for 20-13.

The next rally ended the contest.

China sent a wild reply wide, and Treesa immediately went down on the court in celebration. Gayatri turned towards her father and coach, Pullela Gopichand, who watched the historic moment seemingly dumbstruck.

The Indian pair had completed a remarkable comeback — from losing the opening game to winning the next two — and secured a place in the World Championships semifinals.

For Treesa and Gayatri, the victory is more than a semifinal berth. It puts their names alongside Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa as only the second Indian women’s doubles combination to win a World Championships medal and ends a 15-year wait for India in the discipline.

Manchester United have agreed a £65m deal for Carlos Baleba as they look to make the Brighton player their third midfield signing of the summer.

United’s offer, which could rise by £5m, means they have resurrected their interest in Baleba, a player they first targeted last summer.

Brighton then valued the 22-year-old at over £100m, but were also reluctant to sell, but Baleba’s price has dropped after a difficult year.

United have turned back to him after missing out on two midfielders they liked, with Mateus Fernandes instead joining Tottenham from West Ham and Elliot Anderson moving to Manchester City from Nottingham Forest.

They had also agreed to sign Ederson from Atalanta before a medical revealed concerns and the deal for the Brazil international fell through.

While Baleba is currently out after an ankle problem, it is not thought to keep him out for long or to be enough of an issue to prevent a transfer from going through. Personal terms are not expected to be an issue with the midfielder either.

United have bought two midfielders in this transfer window, with Andrey Santos joining from Chelsea for £48m and Youri Tielemans arriving from Aston Villa for £35m.

But they have lost Casemiro while Manuel Ugarte is sidelined and Mason Mount has missed their last two-pre-season friendlies.

In a huge moment, Shinsuke Nakamura officially unveiled WWE’s newest superstar – a 36-year-old former New Japan Pro Wrestling star. They even have a new tag team name.

The partner of Shinsuke Nakamura is none other than Hiromu Takahashi, who now goes by the name of “Kyoki” after debuting in WWE. Together, they will be known as Bakusai and have straight-up said that they would be going after the MFTs and the WWE Tag Team Championship. This is a huge boost for the tag team division, and it’s going to be interesting to see the impact that Kyoki fka Takahashi has in WWE as well as the tag team division at large.

Shinsuke Nakamura’s new tag team could be a part of WWE’s larger plan

It had been rumored for a while that WWE wanted to revamp the tag team division. These rumors tend to pop up every few years, and little is actually done to improve the division, except for small pockets of time. For example, when The Motor City Machine Guns debuted, it looked like WWE was taking the tag team division seriously and stacking it up, but that has been slowly dismantled over the course of two years.

Either way, the MFTs need a challenger, and Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki seem like an interesting duo. With over ten years under his belt in WWE, Nakamura needs a new challenge. Although he has been a tag team champion before, he has never been fully integrated into the tag team division.

It leaves one glaring question, however – who else is there in the tag team division? Fraxiom hasn’t been properly utilized for ages through no fault of their own, and Damian Priest and R-Truth are completely out of the title picture after a loss in their rematch to the MFTs on the 21st August episode of SmackDown. Hopefully, there is a big plan in place.