Indian shuttlers handed testing draw at 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi
On 2026-08-05 India's leading shuttlers were handed a difficult draw at the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi, with several of the hosts' top medal prospects facing challenging routes. India has four seeded entries, led by the fifth-seeded men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty; PV Sindhu is seeded ninth, Lakshya Sen is the 14th seed, and Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto are seeded 15th.
The draw places many Indian players against tough potential opponents early in the knockout phase. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu opens against Ireland's Sophia Noble and is projected to meet third seed Wang Zhi Yi of China in the Round of 16, with a possible quarterfinal against Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani; Sindhu is also in the same half as reigning Olympic champion An Se Young. Teenage Unnati Hooda will make her World Championships debut against Burmese shuttler Thet Htar Thuzar and, if she advances past the third round, could face Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals.
Lakshya Sen received an opening-round fixture against Austria's Collins Filimon, but the draw projects a meeting with No.2 seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the third round and the possibility of facing either France's Alex Lanier or Christo Popov in the quarterfinals. Ayush Shetty drew arguably the toughest first-round opponent among the Indian contingent, meeting world No. 1 and top seed Shi Yuqi of China in the Round of 64; it will be their third meeting this season, with Shi holding a 3-0 head-to-head advantage and having beaten Ayush in the final of the Badminton Asia Championships earlier this year.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been given a first-round bye and will begin in the Round of 32 against the winners of the Scotland-Thailand clash, with a quarterfinal likely against either China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang or Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen if seedings hold. Mixed doubles pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also earned a first-round bye; the 15th seeds were Singapore Open Super 750 semifinalists earlier this season and will start their campaign after the opening round.
India's women's doubles pairing Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, unseeded, will open against Spain's Paula Lopez and Luca Rodriguez. With New Delhi hosting the World Championships for the first time since 2009, the home contingent will be competing before local crowds but several leading Indian players confront early tests against top-ranked opposition.
PV Sindhu's immediate opponent is Ireland's Sophia Noble; Lakshya Sen faces Collins Filimon; Unnati Hooda plays Thet Htar Thuzar; Ayush Shetty meets Shi Yuqi in the Round of 64; Satwik–Chirag and Dhruv–Tanisha start in the Round of 32 after first-round byes; and Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand open against Paula Lopez and Luca Rodriguez.