2 min readAug 25, 2026 10:58 AM IST
Indian women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand climbed 12 places in the BWF World rankings after winning a bronze medal at the recently concluded Badminton World Championships in New Delhi.
Coming back from an injury layoff, the Indian pair defeated two seeded pairs in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals before losing to World No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China in the semifinals. Their impressive run ended India’s 15-year wait for a women’s doubles medal at the marquee event and continued the country’s streak of winning at least one medal at every edition since 2011.
The Indian pair began their campaign with a Round of 64 win over Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez, followed by a commanding Round of 32 victory over 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Lee of the USA 21-15, 21-12. In the Round of 16, they stunned seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan 21-16, 21-12 and then confirmed a medal by defeating fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China in a three-game thriller in the quarters.
The duo had slipped to World No. 39 after the injury layoff but jumped 12 spots to World No. 27 following their bronze medal finish.
In men’s singles, Ayush Shetty jumped two spots to enter the top 20, now ranked 20th. Ayush stunned everyone by defeating the 2025 World Champion and former World No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China in the first round before losing to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan in the Round of 16.
Lakshya Sen, despite losing to World No. 92 Garret Tan in the Round of 32, gained one spot to climb to World No. 13.
In women’s singles, PV Sindhu retained her spot in the top 10, ranked 10th, while Unnati Hooda gained one spot to climb to 25th. Tanvi Sharma climbed three spots to become World No. 26.
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Despite a loss in the quarterfinals, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty remained World No. 5 in men’s doubles.
The Indian shuttlers will next be in action at the China Masters Super 750 starting next week. While Ayush and Sindhu have withdrawn from the event, Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya, Unnati, Tanvi, Devika Sihag, and Kidambi Srikanth will feature.