Teamwork makes the dream work

Teenagers Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand have enjoyed a stunning rise in women’s doubles after joining forces on a badminton court last year. What does the future hold for them?

Her father Jolly Mathew was a volleyball coach but Treesa Jolly realised that she and older sister Maria were not made for spiking or blocking.

“We were not tall enough, so we tried badminton. In our village [Pulingome in Kannur near the Kerala-Karnataka border], nobody was interested in playing badminton,” said Treesa.

“So dad made a court outside our house, and when it rained he made a roof with a tarpaulin sheet.”

Treesa started whacking shuttle birds at six. Mathew trained her for six years before sending her to coach Anil Ramachandran because he felt she needed an upgrade.

Treesa was a smashing success in Kerala and many felt she would make it big. But there were some twists and turns.

“In singles, I had good performances at the State level, but at the National level I used to reach the semifinals just once or twice a year, there was no consistency,” said the 18-year-old. “I was doing better in doubles.”

She joined the Gopichand academy in Hyderabad, India’s badminton capital, just before the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. A year later came the move that changed her life.