France wins first World Championship golds as India hosts 2026 BWF Worlds in New Delhi

France secured its first gold medals at the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi in 2026, with Alex Lanier taking the men's singles title and Thom Gicquel partnered by Delphine Delrue winning mixed doubles while India staged the tournament as host.

France's success followed a strong Thomas Cup campaign just over three months earlier when the European nation finished runner-up to China; Alex Lanier, 21, became just the third non-Asian this century to win the World Championships men's singles after Spain’s Carolina Marin and Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen. The singles final and other marquee matches were held at a refurbished Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, which had earlier been criticised after pigeons and monkeys intruded into the arena during the India Open in January.

An Se-Young reclaimed the women's singles title from three-time champion Akane Yamaguchi, a result that extended the 24-year-old reigning Olympic champion's string of 2026 successes that included an Uber Cup gold and both the individual and team trophies at the Badminton Asia Championships.

India left New Delhi with at least one medal for the 12th consecutive edition of the World Championships, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly securing bronze in the women's doubles. That outcome followed an ordinary 2025 campaign in which Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's World Championships doubles bronze had been India's best result.

On the 2026 tour, P.V. Sindhu's victory at the Japan Open Super 750 last month was only her second Tour title in the last four years, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won at the Singapore Open Super 750 and Devika Sihag, Tanvi Sharma and Ashmita Chaliha recorded wins at the Super 300 level. This year, Lakshya Sen reached the All England Open final, and Ayush Shetty at the Badminton Asia Championships.

India's home hopes suffered a setback when Lakshya Sen exited in the second round to the unheralded American teenager Garret Tan, a result described as the most disappointing of the tournament for hosts. There is no questioning the 25-year-old’s capability; he is a World Championships bronze medallist, a two-time All England finalist and finished an agonising fourth at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

No Indian men's singles player has won an elite BWF Super 1000-level title since K. Srikanth in 2017, and the article concludes that a swift end to this drought is essential for the overall health of the sport.