NEW DELHI: The world’s biggest badminton stars are preparing to descend on New Delhi as India gets set to host the BWF World Championships 2026 from August 17 to 23. The tournament will be staged at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, marking the World Championships’ return to India after a 17-year gap.
For Indian badminton, this is more than just another major tournament. It is a homecoming for a sport that has transformed dramatically since India last hosted the event in Hyderabad in 2009.
A tournament with history behind it
The 2026 edition will be the 30th BWF World Championships and will feature competition across five disciplines:
Men’s Singles
Women’s Singles
Men’s Doubles
Women’s Doubles
Mixed Doubles
India’s return as host comes at a particularly significant moment. The country has established itself as a consistent force at the World Championships, collecting medals across singles and doubles events.
The tournament also represents a chance for Indian badminton to extend its remarkable medal run, which has continued since 2011.
PV Sindhu: India’s biggest World Championships record
Few Indian players have a stronger connection with the World Championships than PV Sindhu.
The two-time Olympic medallist has won five World Championships medals — one gold, two silver and two bronze. Her defining moment came in 2019, when she defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in Basel to become the first Indian to win a World Championships gold.
Now, playing in front of a home crowd, Sindhu will once again be one of the biggest attractions of the tournament.
Lakshya Sen and a new generation
India’s men’s singles challenge will be closely watched, particularly with Lakshya Sen looking to make another deep run at the World Championships.
Sen already has a World Championships bronze from 2021. In preparation for the Delhi event, he shifted his training base to the BAI National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, where the conditions are considered useful for adapting to the environment expected in New Delhi.
The tournament will also provide a major stage for younger Indian players, including Ayush Shetty, who has emerged as one of the country’s promising men’s singles prospects. His recent performances, including a runner-up finish at the 2026 Badminton Asia Championships, have raised expectations ahead of his World Championships debut.
Satwik-Chirag carry India’s doubles hopes
India’s rise in men’s doubles has been one of the biggest stories of the country’s recent badminton journey.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to win a World Championships medal in 2022. They followed that with another bronze in 2025, helping India maintain its medal streak at the global event.
Their presence gives India a genuine medal contender in a discipline where the country has historically had less success than in women’s singles.
The women’s doubles and mixed doubles teams will also be looking to create breakthroughs on home soil, adding depth to India’s challenge across all five categories.
The numbers that tell India’s World Championships story
15 — India’s total World Championships podium finishes since 1983.
5 — PV Sindhu’s World Championships medals.
1 — Sindhu’s World Championships gold, won in 2019.
2011 — The year India’s uninterrupted World Championships medal streak began.
2009 — The last time India hosted the World Championships, in Hyderabad.
2022 — The year Satwik and Chirag secured India’s first men’s doubles World Championships medal.
2025 — The year Satwik-Chirag added another men’s doubles bronze in Paris.
More than badminton: India’s hosting test
The build-up to the championships has also placed attention on the organisation of the event.
Following criticism surrounding conditions during the India Open earlier this year, organisers have worked to upgrade the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium ahead of the World Championships. The Badminton Association of India has said that improvements have been made to address earlier concerns.
Even an unusual challenge has become part of the preparations: organisers have taken measures to prevent monkeys from entering the venue after a previous disruption during the India Open. The effort has included the use of traditional monkey mimics to deter rhesus monkeys.
It may sound unusual, but for organisers, the message is serious: every detail needs to be controlled when the world’s badminton elite arrives.
What to expect in New Delhi
The 2026 World Championships will bring together defending champions, Olympic medallists, former world No.1 players and ambitious young challengers.
For India, the equation is simple: home advantage, heavyweight names and a medal tradition to protect.
There are no 2026 match scores yet because the tournament begins on August 17. But the stakes are already clear. Sindhu will be chasing another memorable chapter, Lakshya will be looking to re-establish himself among the world’s elite, while Satwik and Chirag will attempt to add another medal to their growing World Championships legacy.
After 17 years away, the World Championships are finally back in India. This time, the country is not merely hosting the badminton world — India enters the tournament as one of the nations expected to make an impact on court.
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