3 min readUpdated: Aug 5, 2026 04:00 PM IST
Five time world championships medallist PV Sindhu will start her campaign at the 2026 World Championships against Sophia Noble of Ireland in the round of 64 while Lakshya Sen will face Collins Valentine of Austria.
If he wins the first and second round, he will face Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the third round.
Unseeded Ayush Shetty has got a tough draw as he will face world number 1 Shi Yuqi in the first round.
Meanwhile, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty are seeded fifth in men’s doubles and will receive a bye in the first round. Similarly, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto will start with a bye as they are seeded 15th in mixed doubles.
PV Sindhu is seeded ninth this time but it has barely mattered for her in any of the five medals she has won at the World championships.
Sindhu is hoping to win her sixth medal at the World Championships. As the tenth seed, she won the bronze medal in the 2013 edition. She followed it up with a bronze medal in the 2014 edition as 11th seed.
She won silver medals at the 2017 and 2018 edition as fourth seed and third seed.
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Her only World title came in the 2019 edition when she was seeded fifth and became the first Indian shuttler to win the title defeating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the final.
In the men’s singles, Lakshya is seeded 14th while Ayush is unseeded. Both shuttlers won’t be meeting each other before the final. Only two times, two Indians have finished on the podium.
PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal won silver and bronze at the 2017 edition while Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya repeated the feat at the 2021 edition.
India doesn’t have anyone seeded pair in the women’s doubles with Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand leading the charge. Interestingly in 2011, it was the unseeded pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa that had won the bronze medal, a first for India.
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The World Championships returned to India after 17 years with the last edition being held at the Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad in 2009.
First round match for Indian shuttlers
Men’s Singles
Lakshya Sen vs
Ayush Shetty vs
Women’s Singles
PV Sindhu vs Sophia Noble (Ireland)
Unnati Hooda vs Thet Thar Huzar (Myanmar)
Men’s Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy- Chirag Shetty bye
Hariharan-Dhruv vs Scott Guldea-Paul Reynolds (Ireland)
Women’s Doubles
Treesa Jolly – Gayatri Gopichand vs Paula Lopez-Lucia Rodriguez (Spain)
Simran Singhi- Kavipriya Selvam vs
Mixed doubles:
Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto Bye
Rohan Kapoor- Rutvika Shivani vs Jonathan Bing-Crystal Lai (Canada)
