Gayatri Gopichand, More Than Just a Famous Surname
Like father, like daughter — the Gopichand legacy shines again.
Daughter of Indian badminton legend Pullela Gopichand, Gayatri Gopichand Pullela and Treesa Jolly recently won a historic bronze at the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi, ending India’s 15-year wait for a women’s doubles medal. The duo trained at Hyderabad’s Pullela Gopichand Academy.
Once seen as a future singles star, Gayatri rewrote her destiny in 2021. She was already a national junior singles champion when the pandemic forced a pause. In that break, coaches spotted something special — Gayatri’s calm touch at the net perfectly balancing Treesa’s attack. From that one experiment, India’s best women’s doubles pair was born.
Does she ever miss her singles days?
She giggles. “Honestly, there’s no way of knowing what could have been. Maybe singles would have worked, maybe not — who can say? But life is about the choices you make and every choice opens a new door. That one decision in 2021 opened the biggest door of my life. I am exactly where I am meant to be, fighting for India on the world stage. So there’s no point mourning a version of my career that never existed.”
Beyond court
On court, he’s India’s chief coach. Off it, Pullela is just dad. “My father has been coaching me and Treesa for a long time, along with a group of other players. Now, apart from him, I also work with other coaches, including Sumeeth Reddy, who trains me alongside the others.” Pullela has always drawn a clear line, saying he never wanted to risk their father-daughter bond by becoming her full-time coach, knowing well the weight the Gopichand surname carries. Inside the academy, she is just another hardworking shuttler with no privileges. At home, badminton is barely spoken about. But for Gayatri, he remains her biggest hero. Having grown up inside the academy since she was six, what’s the strangest downside?
“You never really get an escape. The same four walls that raised you are also watching you. Every coach, every junior, every staff member has seen you from pigtails to the courts, so everyone knows you and everyone has an opinion on you! You can’t just be anonymous for a day. But honestly, this playground is also my only home.”
Partnership that worked
“It’s an honour, honestly, but with it comes responsibility too. I know there are younger girls in the academy and outside watching us, tracking our matches, dreaming the same dream. And if our journey can tell them one thing, it’s that you don’t have to think small just because you’re playing doubles. You can aim really, really high and still make it yours,” she says.
No one scripted Treesa and Gayatri. They were born out of a lockdown gamble. Their different personalities became their biggest strength.
“There’s no CEO in our partnership. We discuss everything together, literally everything. There’s no senior-junior, no boss. We fight, we debate, we laugh, but we decide together,” Gayatri says.
Same court but smaller cheque
Gayatri is brutally honest about another reality. Women’s doubles in India has never been the headline act. Singles gets the crores and the commercials. Doubles, even at the same tournament, gets a smaller cheque because it is split, and far fewer sponsors.
In most Indian academies, doubles is still sold as Plan B — if singles doesn’t click, try doubles.
“Of course, money and spotlight are a little different for us compared to singles, that is reality. But I also feel the sport is changing. People are actually watching doubles now; they are enjoying the speed, the rallies. And hopefully, if we keep performing, we can bring a little more attention, a little more respect to women’s doubles. That would mean a lot more than any ranking to us.”
Education kept her grounded
It was never just about badminton. She did her graduation at St. Mary’s College in Hyderabad, the famous hub in Basheerbagh that has produced everyone from Sania Mirza to countless other sportspersons.
Her days were a blur — early morning sessions at the academy, college lectures, assignments, and back to the academy for evening drills.
“Yeah, it was very difficult to balance both,” she admits. “Morning practice, then college, then again practice. But I am so glad I did it. Badminton is my world, but education gave me a world outside badminton. It kept me sane, kept me normal.”
Chooses privacy
She laughs when we bring up the influencer era. While most athletes her age are building a second career on Instagram, Gayatri’s feed is almost stark — match photos, team pictures with Treesa, a few academy moments, and that’s it.
“I don’t think there’s any intentional hiding or anything like that. It’s just that badminton takes up literally all my time — training, travel, recovery — and there is hardly anything left. I just don’t feel the need to post every single thing happening in my life. I am happy to share badminton, share some moments, but I like to keep my personal side a little private. That’s just how I am.”
“You never really get an escape. The same four walls that raised you are also watching you. Every coach, every junior, every staff member has seen you from pigtails to the courts, so everyone knows you and everyone has an opinion on you! You can’t hide, you can’t just be anonymous for a day. But honestly, this playground is also my only home.”
Box: “I don’t think there’s any intentional hiding or anything like that. It’s just that badminton takes up literally all my time — training, travel, recovery — and there is hardly anything left. I just don’t feel the need to post every single thing happening in my life. I am happy to share badminton, share some moments, but I like to keep my personal side a little private. That’s just how I am.”
Box: Her dad
Gopichand Pullela has always drawn a clear line, saying he never wanted to risk their father-daughter bond by becoming her full-time coach — knowing well the weight the Gopichand surname carries. Inside the academy, she is just another hardworking shuttler with no privileges. At home, badminton is barely spoken about. But for Gayatri, he remains her biggest hero.