BWF World Championships 2026: Sindhu and Shetty Advance

PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, and Ayush Shetty advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships 2026 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen suffered an unexpected loss in the second round, ending his tournament early.

Sindhu defeated Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang with scores of 21-16 and 21-17 to move into the last-16 stage. The ninth-seeded player will now face third-seeded China’s Wang Zhi Yi in the next round.

Ayush Shetty secured a dominant victory over Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama with scores of 21-8 and 21-10. He will next face Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, a tough opponent.

Lakshya Sen, a bronze medalist at the 2021 World Championships, lost to USA’s Garret Tan in a closely contested match with scores of 21-19, 19-21, and 17-21. Sen expressed disappointment but praised Tan’s performance.

Other Indian players also made progress. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after receiving a walkover in their second-round match. The mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also won their match against Macau’s Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi with scores of 21-11 and 21-11.

Unnati Hooda, competing in her debut at the World Championships, lost to Canada’s Michelle Li despite leading the first game. She fell 11-21, 9-21, and 21-23. The men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also lost to Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju with scores of 17-21 and 14-21.

In the men’s singles category, Ayush Shetty won against Dumindu Abeywickrama, while Garret Tan defeated Lakshya Sen. In women’s singles, PV Sindhu won her match, and Michelle Li advanced despite losing to Unnati Hooda in the first game. The mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also secured their victory.

The tournament continues with these players moving forward, while others like Sen and Hooda will look to regroup for future competitions.