BWF World Championships: Five moments that stood out for India in New Delhi

India hosted the BWF World Championships after a gap of 17 years, with 64 men and 64 women, along with 48 pairs across the three doubles events, serving up high-octane action at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

Hosts India entered the tournament with 15 medals at the World Championships and a run of winning at least one medal at every edition since 2011.

That streak was extended in this edition, with women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand achieving the feat.

Let’s take a look at the top five moments from the championships that stood out for India.

Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand’s historic bronze

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand enjoyed a dream run at the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi, becoming only the second Indian women’s doubles pair to win a medal, 15 years after Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta won bronze in 2011.

The Indian pair got the better of three seeded opponents en route to their historic bronze.

World No. 39 Treesa and Gayatri, who were unseeded at the tournament, eventually lost to Olympic medallists and defending champions Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of the People's Republic of China 18-21, 21-13, 21-8 in an hour and 11 minutes in the semi-finals.

Their medal took India’s overall World Championships tally to 16 and ensured that the country’s run of winning at least one medal at every edition since 2011 continued.

Ayush Shetty’s biggest career win

Ayush Shetty had one of the toughest draws among the Indian shuttlers at the World Championships. He was drawn against defending champion Shi Yuqi of the People's Republic of China.

Ayush came into the match with a 0-3 head-to-head record and was clearly the underdog. But the Indian pulled off the biggest win of his career on his World Championships debut, knocking out World No. 1 Shi Yuqi in a thrilling opening-round contest. He won 21-14, 13-21, 21-19.

The 21-year-old, however, could not maintain the momentum and lost to 11th seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia in the Round of 16, going down 21-19, 21-11.

Packed stadium, enthusiastic crowd

Beyond the badminton action, the wins and losses, it was the spectators who added energy and excitement to the World Championships. India was hosting the tournament after 17 years, and the spectators made the most of the opportunity to witness the world’s best shuttlers up close.

Fans from across the country, from different age groups and backgrounds, arrived to experience the excitement.

Young fans did not mind missing school to cheer for their favourite players. Badminton enthusiasts, some well past retirement age and others still in their prime, turned up with the same enthusiasm. Some flashed handmade banners for their favourite players, while others simply cheered from the stands.

The crowds were so large that the stadium could easily have been mistaken for a concert venue. They applauded every good rally, celebrated every point and fell into a deafening silence, irrespective of whether an Indian was on court.

By the semi-finals, the atmosphere had reached another level, with as many as 8,000 fans turning up to support their favourite players. Even in the finals, where no Indian was in action, a decent crowd turned up to support the sport.

Unnati Hooda’s second-round exit

India’s women’s singles debutant Unnati Hooda came within a point of a major upset before her impressive run at the BWF World Championships 2026 ended in heartbreak.

The 18-year-old lost to Canada’s World No. 13 Michelle Li, a former Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games champion, in a three-game thriller in the second round.

The result brought a painful end to Unnati’s campaign in New Delhi, but the match-point opportunity and her ability to stretch the 13th seed all the way to 23-21 in the decider gave the teenager plenty to take away from her World Championships debut.

PV Sindhu’s shot at history

For PV Sindhu, the 2026 World Championships was a chance to create history. The 31-year-old was eyeing a record sixth World Championships medal, having already won five medals at the event, including one gold, two silver and two bronze.

China’s Lin Dan and Zhao Yunlei are the only other shuttlers with five medals at the World Championships.

The former world champion also arrived in New Delhi with an impeccable 8-0 record against Chinese players at the World Championships. But that streak came to an end in the Round of 16, as World No. 3 Wang Zhiyi of China beat Sindhu 21-11, 15-21, 21-17.