New Delhi: India’s top badminton stars have received their seedings for the BWF World Championships 2026, with two time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu seeded ninth in the women’s singles and the celebrated men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty seeded fifth.
The prestigious tournament will be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi from August 17 to 23, with India fielding two entries in each of the five competition categories.
Sindhu heads into the tournament in strong form after recently winning the Japan Open, while Satwik and Chirag, the 2022 Asian Games gold medallists, will look to add a maiden world title to their impressive list of achievements.
India also has two other seeded players for the championships. Former World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen has been seeded 14th in the men’s singles, while the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto have been handed the 15th seed.
Qualification for the World Championships was based on the BWF world rankings published on April 28, 2026, while the tournament seedings have been determined using the rankings released on July 28, 2026.
In the international field, reigning men’s singles world champion Shi Yuqi of China has been named the top seed, while South Korea’s An Se Young leads the women’s singles draw. Defending women’s singles world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan has been seeded second, with China’s Wang Zhi Yi and Chen Yufei completing the top four seeds.
In the doubles events, South Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae are the top seeds in men’s doubles, while China’s Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning lead the women’s doubles rankings. China’s Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping have been seeded first in the mixed doubles competition.
The official draw for the World Championships will be conducted on Wednesday, with the final seedings remaining subject to change if any seeded players withdraw before the tournament begins.
