6 min readMumbaiAug 30, 2026 08:20 AM IST First published on: Aug 30, 2026 at 08:19 AM ISTAnother young shuttler had plonked herself on a box with the sole of her foot strapped way back in early 2016. Unlike PV Sindhu, who had nursed her foot the year preceding her Rio Olympics silver after a fall, Treesa Jolly had crashed into her mixed doubles partner and hurt her leg, gulping down the prognosis – it would take more than a month before she could return to playing on the court.A couple of days after the doctor set the timeline, Treesa turned up on court, and plonked herself on a bench. Both had been smash machines. Both were known for their expansive power. Both learnt the meditative art of slowing down their breathing, using the racquet as a scalpel not a scythe, and discovering the “feel” on the shuttle in badminton’s unspoken battle-zone: the net. Treesa would turn up daily since April and only train for serves and dribbles. It was badminton pared back to absolute basics. It was badminton that led to Chinese doubles legend Jia Yifan, an Olympic champ, being counter-dribbled, nay, out-dribbled out of a World Championship medal.