India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the US Open 2026 badminton tournament after overcoming Spain’s Paula López and Lucía Rodríguez in a hard-fought women’s doubles opening-round clash on Tuesday.
Competing at the Titan Gym in California, the Indian pair registered a 21-12, 14-21, 21-13 victory to advance to the second round of the BWF Super 300 event.
Treesa and Gayatri made a strong start by comfortably taking the opening game. However, the Spanish duo fought back to level the contest by claiming the second game. The Indians regained control in the decider, producing a dominant display to close out the match and secure their place in the last 16.
The tournament marks another step in the pair’s return to the international circuit after Treesa recently recovered from an injury that sidelined her for nearly three months.
The duo resumed competition at the Indonesia Open earlier this month and are India’s lone representatives in the women’s doubles draw at the US Open.
In men’s singles, Rounak Chouhan advanced to the main draw after successfully navigating the qualification rounds.
The Indian shuttler defeated France’s Enogat Roy 21-19, 21-16 in his opening qualifier before overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Kuan-lin 13-21, 21-14, 21-10 to seal his place in the main competition.
Treesa and Gayatri will next face Japan’s Sumire Nakade and Miyu Takahashi for a place in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, several leading Indian players, including Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and Anmol Kharb, are scheduled to begin their campaigns on Wednesday.
