PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty lost in the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Published: August 21, 2026, 7:00 AM IST
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PV Sindhu in action against China’s Wang Zhi Yi in BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi(Photo: PTI)
Badminton World Championships 2026: Indian hopes of glory and medals from their singles star at the ongoing BWF World Championships 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium were dashed on a disappointing ThursdayStar women’s singles shuttler and two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu bowed out after a battling three-game loss in pre-quarterfinals to China’s world No3 Wang Zhi Yi.
Sindhu pushed Zhi Yi, who was battling severe cramps in both legs, to the brink before losing 11-21, 21-15, 17-21The loss ended Sindhu’s aspirations for an unprecedented sixth medal at the badminton World Championships.
In the men’s singles pre-quarters, it was Ayush Shetty who suffered a disappointing loss to Indonesia’s Alwi FarhanShetty went down in straight games to Farhan, losing 19-21, 11-21.
The 21-year-old Shetty, who had posted a stunning win over defending champion and world No1 Shi Yu Qi in the opening round, had no answer to world No12 FarhanIt was his 5th loss in eight encounters against the 11th-seeded Indonesian shuttler and ended India’s campaign in men’s singlesIndia’s top-ranked Lakshya Sen had earlier bowed out of the World Championships on Wednesday.
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PV Sindhu reacts to her loss against third-seed Wang Zhi Yi of China in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinal at the BWF World Championships 2026.
Sindhu noted that a little more patience would have helped her win the matchShe also underlined that… pic.twitter.com/5qb5bXMoIX
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) August 20, 2026
Earlier in the day, India’s women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had marched into the quarterfinals with a straight-game win over Japanese seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie NakanishiThey are now one win away from securing a medal at the ongoing World Championships.
The unseeded Indian pair, on a comeback trail after Treesa recovered from an injury, produced a dominant performance to outwit the world No7 Japanese pair 21-16, 21-12 in a one-sided contestJolly and Gayatri Gopichand created history of sorts as it is the first quarterfinal appearance by an Indian women’s doubles pair at the World Championships since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa achieved the feat in 2015.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty book last eight berth
Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty emulated Tresa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand’s feat earlier in the day and are now one win away for securing a World Championships medalRankireddy and Shetty battled past Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King 21-23, 21-19, 21-17 to enter the men’s doubles quarterfinals on Thursday.
The Indian pair were to the limit by their Malaysian counterparts but held their nerve in a tense three-game contestAfter dropping the opening game, Satwik and Chirag bounced back to level the contest before completing the comeback in the decider.
The victory keeps the Indian campaign alive in men’s and women’s doubles event as they eye a medal in the World Championships.
Meanwhile, five-time World Championships medallist Sindhu lost a thrilling 88-minute contest to Zhi YiIt ended a perfect streak for Sindhu against Chinese opponents in the World ChampionshipsBefore Thursday, Sindhu had won all eight of her World Championships meetings against players from China.
Competing in her 11th World Championships, Sindhu had gone into the pre-quarterfinals clash with a 3-5 head-to-head record against WangThe Chinese shuttler was struggling with cramps but got attention from officials and returned to court to finish off the Indian challenge.
