Who is Gayatri Gopichand? Can she repeat father's feat at All England Open in doubles?

19-year-old Indian badminton player Gayatri Gopichand became one of the talking points at the All England Open 2022 tournament, by reaching the semi-final of the women’s doubles event in the tournament alongside partner Treesa Jolly. A day after defeating the Indonesian Olympic champion Arpriyani Rahayu and her partner in the Round of 16, the Indian duo earned a three-set victory over the South Korean World Championship silver medallists Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchuan. By earning the victory against the second-seeded Korean pair on Friday, Gopichand and Jolly reached the semifinal of a super 1000 event for the first time in their badminton career. They also became the first Indian doubles pair to reach the semifinals of the All England Open.

Who is Gayatri Gopichand? 

Gayatri is the daughter of former All England champion Pullela Gopichand, who is also the Chief National Coach for the Indian national badminton team. Pullela won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 and became the second Indian to achieve the feat following Prakash Padukone. He has also won the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Dronacharya Award in 2009, and India’s third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhusan in 2014.

The partnership between Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly

Meanwhile, Gayatri would be looking to repeat her father’s feat by first making it to the finals and then winning the All England Open title. Gayatri used to compete in both the singles and doubles event before she chose to compete only in doubles after not enjoying the heightened physical rigours required in the singles. She then found her partner in Treesa, who has a perfect fit because of her attacking game from the back-court. 

Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will play the semi-finals on Saturday

The pair won a Super 100 title in Odisha in their maiden season in the senior circuit this year and finished runners-up in the Syed Modi tournament in January. They received a late call to join the All England Championships, while at Mulheim for the German Open. In the meantime, they went on to win the quarterfinal on Friday and will compete for a place in the finals on Saturday.

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