Indian Doubles Team Triumphs at World Championships 2026

Thrilling Victory for India's Doubles Pair

In an intense match at the New Delhi World Championships 2026, India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King with scores of 21-23, 21-19, 21-17 in the men's doubles event on Thursday.

The Indian duo took one hour and 22 minutes to secure their spot in the quarterfinals after a challenging battle.

Initially, Satwik and Chirag struggled to adapt to the drift in the stadium, having entered the tournament following a couple of walkovers. They found themselves trailing by three points at the change of ends in the final game, with a score of 8-11.

The Malaysian team increased their lead to 15-12, putting the Indian pair under significant pressure. Nevertheless, Satwik and Chirag demonstrated remarkable resilience, ultimately clinching the deciding game 21-17, which ignited jubilant celebrations among the home crowd.

End of Singles Campaign for India

This victory came on the heels of contrasting outcomes for Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and PV Sindhu earlier in the day. With this win, Satwik and Chirag joined Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand as the only Indian pairs to reach the quarterfinals at the New Delhi World Championships 2026.

PV Sindhu Exits the Tournament

India's star player PV Sindhu faced a tough exit from the BWF World Championships 2026 after losing to China's Wang Zhi Yi in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals. The match, held on Thursday, marked the end of the host nation's singles campaign.

Sindhu, a five-time World Championships medallist, lost the match with scores of 11-21, 21-15, 17-21 in a gripping 88-minute contest at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. Despite strong support from the home crowd, she was unable to secure a historic sixth medal, ending her unbeaten record against Chinese players at this tournament.

Ayush Shetty's Journey Concludes

Earlier, Ayush Shetty also exited in the men's singles Round of 16, losing to Indonesia's Alwi Farhan with scores of 19-21, 11-21. Ayush had previously stunned World No. 1 Shi Yuqi in the earlier round but could not maintain his momentum, leading briefly in the first game before succumbing to Alwi's dominance in the second game.

Lakshya Sen and Unnati Hooda were also eliminated in the second round on Wednesday, concluding India's singles challenge at the home World Championships.

Mixed Results in Other Doubles Events

Despite the setbacks, there was some positive news for India as the women's doubles team of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the quarterfinals with a convincing 21-16, 21-12 victory over Japan's seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi. The world No. 39 Indian pair, returning from Treesa's injury, is now just one win away from a World Championships medal.

Conversely, the mixed doubles team of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto faced elimination after losing 16-21, 5-21 to China's Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui in the Round of 16.