Lakshya suffers shock exit, Unnati too falls; Sindhu, Ayush, Satwik-Chirag march on

It turned out to be a mixed day for hosts India as Lakshya Sen suffered a shock exit from the BWF World Championships 2026 and Unnati Hooda too made her exit, while PV Sindhu kept her tryst with the title alive.

Sen lost to USA’s Garret Tan in the men’s singles round of 32 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday. The world No. 14 Indian badminton player went down 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 to the 92nd-ranked American.

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After two closely fought games, Lakshya found himself in trouble at the mid-game interval of the decider as Garret Tan raced to an 11-4 lead.

Lakshya, however, mounted a spirited fightback, including a six-point burst, to close the deficit to just one point at 17-16.

Garret Tan regained control to move ahead before earning four match points at 20-16. Lakshya saved the first, but the American converted the next to complete the upset.

Lakshya won a bronze medal on his Badminton World Championships debut in 2021 but has not been able to replicate that run in subsequent editions. He exited in the round of 16 in 2022 and 2023 before suffering a first-round defeat last year.

Unnati Hooda suffered a narrow three-game defeat to Canada’s 13th seed Michelle Li. Pics BAI

Unnati Hooda’s maiden World Badminton Championships campaign came to an end in the second round following a narrow three-game defeat to Canada’s 13th seed Michelle Li.

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The 18-year-old Indian went down 11-21, 21-9, 23-21 after pushing the experienced Canadian all the way in the decider.

Sindhu downs Zhang

Former world champion PV Sindhu, meanwhile, advanced to the pre-quarterfinals with a straight-game win over Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang.

The ninth-seeded Indian beat the world No. 49 Canadian 21-16, 21-17 in 35 minutes to book her place in the round of 16.

Treesa-Gayatri upset 16th-seeded Americans to reach pre-quarters; Lakshya, Unnati win

Sindhu will next face world No. 3 Wang Zhi Yi of the People’s Republic of China. Wang Zhi Yi leads PV Sindhu 5-3 in their head-to-head rivalry and beat the Indian at both the Malaysia Open and Badminton Asia Championships earlier this year.

Sindhu, however, defeated the Chinese shuttler in the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships last year.

Ayush continues impressive run

Ayush Shetty continued his impressive run with a commanding 21-8, 21-10 win over Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama in the men’s singles round of 32.

The world No. 22 Indian needed just 26 minutes to beat the 87th-ranked Sri Lankan and book his place in the pre-quarterfinals.

PV Sindhu will next face world No. 3 Wang Zhi Yi of the People’s Republic of China

The 21-year-old Ayush had produced the biggest upset of the opening round on Monday, knocking out defending champion and world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in three games on his World Championships debut.

Ayush will next face Indonesia’s 11th seed Alwi Farhan, who holds a 2-1 advantage over the Indian in their senior head-to-head record.

Alwi beat Ayush at the Indonesia Masters and All England Open earlier this year before the Indian turned the tables with a three-game victory at the China Open in July.

The Indonesian had also defeated world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi during his run to the Singapore Open semifinals earlier this year.

Satwik-Chirag advance

Fifth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals without taking the court after Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle withdrew from their round of 32 contest.

The two-time World Championships bronze medallists had received a bye in the opening round and are yet to play a match at this year’s tournament.

The 15th-seeded mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after beating Macao China’s Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi 21-11, 21-11 in just 30 minutes.

Dhruv and Tanisha will face the People’s Republic of China’s Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui, the sixth seeds, in the pre-quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, M R Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan bowed out of the men’s doubles after losing 21-17, 21-14 to the Republic of Korea’s 15th seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju in 43 minutes.

The world No. 24 Indian pair had advanced from the opening round after Ireland’s Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds retired midway through their match.