India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stormed into the women’s doubles quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships with a straight-game win over seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the last eight after a thrilling victory here on Thursday (Aug 20). World No. 39 Treesa and Gayatri produced a dominant 21-16, 21-12 win over the Japanese pair to become the first Indian women’s doubles combination in 11 years to reach the quarterfinals of the World Championships.
Mixed Day for India
The Indian duo will face fourth seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shi Xian of China in the last eight. Treesa and Gayatri started strongly and opened up a 13-9 lead in the first game. The Japanese pair responded by winning seven straight points, but the Indians regained their composure and claimed the next eight points to take the game.
The second game was more one-sided, with the Indian pair using quick drops and cross-court smashes to keep their opponents under pressure and seal the match in 44 minutes. The result ended an 11-year wait for an Indian women’s doubles pair to reach the World Championships quarterfinals. The last Indian combination to achieve the feat was Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in 2015.
Later, two-time World Championships bronze medallists Satwik and Chirag overcame Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King 21-23, 21-19, 21-17. The Indian pair saved two game points in the opening game but eventually conceded it. They fought back in the second game after trailing 16-18 and forced a decider. Satwik and Chirag again found themselves 12-15 down in the third game but levelled the score at 17-17 before winning the next four points to seal the match. They will take on Chinese third seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the quarterfinals.
Disappointing Day in Singles
It was a disappointing day in singles for India as PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty were knocked out. Two-time world champion Sindhu’s hopes of winning a sixth World Championships medal ended with a 21-11, 15-21, 21-17 loss to third seed Wang Zhi Yi of China in an 88-minute battle.
Sindhu struggled in the opening game but bounced back strongly in the second, winning six consecutive points from 15-15 to force a decider. She took an early 8-4 lead in the deciding game and later led 13-10, but Wang fought back by winning five successive points. The match featured several gruelling rallies, including one that lasted 54 shots, before Wang closed out the contest with a cross-court smash.
Meanwhile, Ayush Shetty’s impressive campaign came to an end after the Indian lost 21-19, 21-11 to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan. The contrasting results kept India’s hopes of extending its medal streak at the World Championships, which began in 2011, alive through the two men’s and women’s doubles pairs.
The post BWF World Championships 2026: PV Sindhu-Ayush Shetty Exit, Chirag-Satwik Keep Medal Hopes Alive For India appeared first on NewsX.
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