New Delhi to host BWF World Championships with strong Indian contingent

By Arjun Nair / 06.08.2026

By Arjun Nair — 6 August 2026 — 4 min read

Indian Shuttlers Eye Podium Finishes at Home Championships

The BWF World Badminton Championships 2026 are set to take place at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi from August 17 to 23. India will feature two entries in each of the five badminton disciplines, with at least one seeded player in four of these categories. This marks the return of the top-tier Grade 1 event to India after a gap of 17 years, with the country last hosting it in Hyderabad in 2009.

Former champion PV Sindhu will compete as the ninth seed in the women’s singles event. She has a potentially favourable early draw and could face China’s Wang Zhi Yi in the Round of 16, a player she defeated in the previous edition of the championships. Sindhu is aiming for a record sixth medal at the event.

The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be India’s highest-seeded entry, holding the fifth seed. The duo is making a return after injury issues for Rankireddy. India doubles coach Tan Kim Her confirmed that Rankireddy has recovered fully, stating, “He has recovered 100 per cent. He’s (Satwik) ready.” They have avoided familiar rivals until at least the quarterfinal stage.

In men’s singles, former world championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen is seeded 14th. Like Sindhu, Sen has a relatively easy draw in the initial two rounds. However, he could face a significant challenge in the Round of 16, where he might encounter the second seed, Kunlavit Vitidsarn of Thailand.

Challenging Match-ups and High Aspirations

While most top shuttlers are expected to have relatively easy first-round matches, India’s Ayush Shetty faces a tough opening encounter. He is set to play against World No 1 and defending champion Shi Yu Qi from China on the opening day. This match-up was determined during the official draw ceremony held on Wednesday. Ayush Shetty, ranked World No 23, was a key talking point after the draw, especially given that Shi Yu Qi had defeated him in the final of the Asian Championships.

India’s national chief coach Pullela Gopichand commented on Shetty’s draw, stating, “I think it looks like a good draw from an Indian perspective. One of the big first rounds will be Shi vs Ayush. I do believe that Ayush is very good and given his attacking side of the game, a first round (meeting) against Shi is better than playing late in the draw. From that perspective, if he wins that, it opens up the draw.”

U Vimal Kumar, who oversees the training of both Ayush Shetty and Lakshya Sen at the Centre for Badminton Excellence (CBE), expressed hope that Ayush could draw inspiration from Loh Kean Yew’s performance in the 2021 edition in Huelva, Spain. Loh Kean Yew, then an unseeded player, defeated the second seed Viktor Axelsen in the opening round and went on to win the title.

The mixed doubles pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Olympian Tanisha Crasto are the 15th seeds and could face their main challenge from the Round of 16 stage. The women’s doubles combination of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, despite a challenging season, will play against Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez of Spain in the first round. They enter the event after a recent positive performance at the Philippine International Challenge.

Significance of Hosting the Championships

The importance of the World Championships returning to India is highlighted by the participation of top international players, including Anders Antonsen, the World No 4 from Denmark, and fellow Danish player Mia Blichfeldt. Both players, despite previous concerns regarding conditions at the venue, are set to compete, underscoring the prestige of the tournament.

Pullela Gopichand expressed his enthusiasm for the event returning to India, noting, “It’s wonderful to have the World Championships back in India. We were an emerging nation. It was one of those first big events being hosted in India. Back in the day, the sport was not such a big thing. Today we’re looking at a new India which has an aspiration of hosting some big world sporting events, badminton being one of them. I’m very happy to see the Worlds back. We’re definitely going to have it much grander.”

He also pointed out the significant growth in Indian badminton since 2009, stating, “The one big difference (past edition in India and now) is the emergence of multiple players. If we had this ceremony back then (2009), we wouldn’t have much to talk about in terms of players. Today, we have multiple players in multiple events and we aspire to be on the podium in the few of them at least. So I’m very hopeful it’s going to get better.” Indian shuttlers have consistently secured medals at the championships since the 2011 edition.

Source: newsonair.gov.in