Lakshya Sen rallies into second round at BWF World Championships 2026, New Delhi; Unnati Hooda to face Michelle Li in round two

BWF World Championships 2026: Lakshya Sen rallies into second round; Unnati Hooda sets up clash with Michelle Li

Lakshya Sen came from a game down to beat Austria’s Collins Valentine Filimon. Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Unnati Hooda also advanced.

India’s Lakshya Sen came from a game down to beat Austria’s Collins Valentine Filimon in the opening round of the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The 14th-seeded Indian badminton player beat the world No. 128 Austrian 16-21, 21-8, 21-4 in 45 minutes at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium .

The opening game was a close affair initially, with the two players level at 10-10. Filimon, however, gradually took control and opened up a seven-point advantage at 19-12 before closing out the game.

The second game also started on even terms, with the scores level at 7-7. However, after going 10-8 ahead, Lakshya reeled off 11 unanswered points to take the game 21-8 and force a decider.

Lakshya carried the momentum into the third game, racking up an 11-point run to establish a commanding 14-1 advantage before wrapping up the contest.

A bronze medallist at the 2021 World Badminton Championships , Sen will take on USA’s world No. 92 Garret Tan in the round of 32.

Earlier, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the women’s doubles pre-quarterfinals with a 21-15, 21-12 win over USA’s 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Lee.

The world No. 39 Indian pair stunned the 17th-ranked Americans in 49 minutes.

Treesa and Gayatri made a strong start and went into the opening-game interval 11-6 ahead before sealing it 21-15.

The Indians continued to dictate the contest in the second game and moved 15-9 ahead before the Commonwealth Games medallists wrapped up the match in straight games.

Unnati Hooda also advanced to the women’s singles round of 32 after beating Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar 22-20, 21-16 in 40 minutes.

The 18-year-old Indian will face Canada’s world No. 13 Michelle Li, a former Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games champion, in the second round.

Meanwhile, Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi bowed out of the women’s doubles after losing 21-7, 21-14 to ninth seeds Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria in 39 minutes.

In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde lost 20-22, 21-19, 21-17 to Canada’s Jonathan Lai and Crystal Lai in one hour and eight minutes.

Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also exited the mixed doubles after a closely-fought 16-21, 30-29, 24-22 defeat to Türkiye’s Emre Sönmez and Yasemen Bektaş in one hour and 11 minutes.

The BWF World Championships is being held in India for the first time since 2009. The 30th edition will run from August 17 to 23.

India have won 15 medals at the World Championships and have claimed at least one medal at every edition since 2011.

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