BWF World Championships 2026: PV Sindhu Seeded 9th, Satwik-Chirag Are 5th

Japan Open champion PV Sindhu will be seeded ninth and the 2022 Asian Games gold medallist combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been handed the fifth seeding for the upcoming BWF World Championships to be played at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi from August 17-23, 2026.

India has two entries each in all the five categories of the championships with at least one seeded entry in four of the five categories. Apart from Sindhu and Satwik-Chirag, former world championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen, seeded 14th in men’s singles and the mixed doubles pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto are seeded 15th.

While the players qualified for the prestigious championships based on their world rankings of April 28, 2026, the seedings were decided on the basis of world rankings on July 28, 2026. Men’s singles world champion Shi Yuqi of China and South Korea’s women’s singles star An Se Young are the top seeds in their respective categories.

Women’s singles world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan is seeded second while the third and fourth spots have gone to Wang Zhi Yi and Chen Yufei of China.

The draw for the championships will take place here on Wednesday, and the final seedings could change in case any of the seeded players withdraw before that.

South Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae are expected to be at the top of the men’s doubles seeding chart, with China’s Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning getting the top billing in women’s doubles. Their compatriots Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping are seeded number one in mixed doubles.