BWF World Championships: Indians face difficult draw in their quest to continue medal streak

One year ago in Paris, Indian badminton's medal streak at the Olympics came to a brutal end as a golden generation of players failed to reach the podium. A year later, Paris offers a shot at redemption with another, much longer medal streak at stake.

The BWF World Championship begins from Monday, with few expectations but a lot of pressure on Indians to continue a run of medals that goes back to 2011.

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The World Championship medal streak is the best indicator of the golden period Indian badminton has enjoyed in the 2010s, with at least one medal across four disciplines stretching back to Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa's bronze in 2011. Every top Indian player has won a medal at the Worlds since then, with PV Sindhu leading the field with five.

This record, though, is in serious danger in 2025 with India going through a particularly barren patch with injuries and poor form. No Indian has reached a major final this year and the only title is young Ayush Shetty's Super 300 US Open.

Can a return to Paris and the World Championship stage change the fortunes of Indian badminton in 2025? Given their calibre, there is no writing anyone off. But given the difficult draw the drop in ranking has resulted in, it'll take an extraordinary effort for an Indian to medal in 2025. Simply put, Indians have a bit of a nightmare draw, with nemesis players early on and a medal will be an upset.

Here's an in-depth look at Indian player's World Championship draw and potential road to a medal. (Note: The World Championship is a bigger draw of 64 and reaching the semifinal guarantees a medal.)

Men's Singles

Lakshya Sen

From the time this draw was announced, the top clash circled to watch out for was the one at the top of the draw -- top seed Shi Yu Qi vs Lakshya Sen.

On paper, this is a popcorn first-round clash. The world no. 1 vs the unseeded player who reached the semifinals last year at the Olympics knocking out veterans. Lakshya, WR 21, is a dangerous floater for any opponent at when fully fit and dialled in, as he showed in Paris last year. But he can also lack finishing touch when he needs it the most, as seen when he finished fourth despite a great opportunity. Which version of Lakshya will show up at the Worlds is the question.

China's Shi leads Lakshya 3-1, with the Indian's only win coming in the Asian Games team competition. Their latest clash at the Indonesia Open in June was a classic Lakshya moment, where he was excellent for most the match but couldn't get past the line in three.

If the 24-year-old can manage a big upset, he will likely have a couple of French home favourites to battle past in 10th seed Christo Popov and 7th seed Alex Lanier to reach the semis. On his day and with his speed, Lakshya can easily beat any of them, especially at major tournaments where he always brings his best. Will it be his day, though, when his 2025 record reads 8-11 is hard to predict.

HS Prannoy

At the last World Championships, Prannoy was the player. The late-blooming Indian beat world no. 1 and favourite Viktor Axelsen at home in Copenhagen to win his first major individual medal. Two years later, chikungunya made Prannoy a shadow of the player he used to be. His diminished physicality has made it hard for him to fight out in matches like he used to, and he's training hard to regain his 100% fitness. He has a 5-14 win-loss record this year, but has had sparks of brilliance, like that miracle comeback from five match points in the China Open.

The world no. 34 will start against Finland's world no. 48 Joakim Oldorff, in what will be their first meeting. A win will potentially set up a second-round clash with second seed Anders Antonsen. Their head-to-head stands at an even 2-2, but the Dane has been in great form this year and is one of the favourites for the podium.

If Prannoy can upset yet another Dane medal favourite, the other big names in his section are 15th seed Toma Junior Popov, returning Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and 6th seed Chou Tien Chen. It is unlikely that the 33-year-old can repeat his last time's feat.

Women's Singles

PV Sindhu

Sindhu, a bona fide World Championship legend with 5 medals including a gold, is in a very challenging place in her career. She's still India's top singles player, the only one seeded at the Worlds at WR 15. However, she is also not the world beater she used to be -- inconsistent form and early losses at big events, with a telling WL record of 6-12 this year. At her last outing at the China Open, she showed signs of her vintage self with a win over rising star Tomoka Miyazaki but lost to 17-year-old compatriot Unnati Hooda in the next round. At this stage, the 30-year-old can lose to anyone, especially in the third game when the battle becomes nervy and physical.

She starts against world no. 66 Kaloyana Nalbantova of Bulgaria and will take on either WR 40 Malaysian Karupathevan Letshanaa or WR 77 Saloni Mehta of Hong Kong in the second round if she wins.

After this, things get tricky as she is drawn to meet second seed Wang Zhi Yi in the round of 16. She has a 2-2 record against the Chinese player, but Wang has been among the best players this season and will be a dangerous opponent for any player. The other seeds in her section are 8 Miyazaki (1-1) and 9 Putri Kusuma Wardani (2-2), both winnable matches for a medal winning semifinal, if Sindhu gets past Wang.

A sixth medal at 30 years of age? What a story that can be!

Men's Doubles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

One of the harshest blows at the Paris Olympics last year was the quarterfinal loss of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. One of the gold medal favourites who had won the French Open title on the very same courts earlier in the year. They were taken down by a tactical masterclass by eventual bronze medallists and regular nemeses Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.

Satwik and Chirag -- the only Top 10 Indian seeds at WR 9 -- now have a chance to avenge that very loss... that is if they reach the quarterfinals again. For that, they have to get past another nemeses, in China's 6th seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the round of 16. The Paris Olympics silver medallists lead the Indians 6-2 head-to-head, while Soh and Chia lead them 11-3.

But in the uber competitive space that is men's doubles, head-to-head doesn't always count. The Indian duo are former world no. 1 themselves and have the intrinsic ability to beat any pair once their fast and furious game clicks. Of course, most top pairs have the blueprint to disrupt them with flat and low counterattack, but the arena in Paris does favour their speed.

They have been struggling with injuries for most part of the year, which accounts for their lack of titles, but still have a solid 19-19 WL record in 2025. After a training block in Hyderabad, they will be raring to for this one tournament medal and a potential revenge match (which is usually a good motivator for Sat-Chi.)

In short, Satwik-Chirag are best placed to continue India's medal streak despite their extremely tough draw. As top 10 seeds, they have a first round bye and a likely second round against...

Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi

The other Indians in the men's doubles draw are WR 33 Hariharan and Ruban, making their World Championship debut. They play Chinese Taipei's Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po Han in the first round (first meeting) and a win will pit them against their compatriots for the first time on the tour. There is no upset alert tag on this match up as of now but it will be an interesting one.

Women's Doubles

Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra

In the absence of world no. 12 Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who have pulled out, there's no seeded Indian pair or medal chances here. Youngsters Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra, ranked 39, and WR 38 Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, both have tough draws early on.

Priya and Shruti start against locals WR 42 Margot Lambert and Camille Pognante, who are ranked lower than them. A win will pit them against 4th seeds Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee, which is when things get very tough for the debutants.

Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda

The Panda sisters take on WR 19 Stoeva sisters Gabriela and Stefani in the first round. If they pull off an upset, a second round against 16th seeds Go Pei Kee and Teoh Mei Xing awaits.

Mixed Doubles

Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila

This is the one discipline India doesn't have a World Championship medal in, and while the 16th seeded pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila are doing their best to change this, it will take a special effort to change that in 2025. The two have been working together for less than a year and are still finetuning their on-court partnership.

They have a bye in the first round and will take on the winner of Ireland's Joshua Magee and Moya Ryan vs USA's Linden Wang and Eva Wang in the second. The first seed in their path is the pair of Tang Chun Man and Ts Ying Suet, who have beaten the Indians in their only meeting earlier this year.

Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde

World no. 33 Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde are also in the draw and play Leong Iok Chong and Weng Chi Ng of Macau, China, in the opener. A win will pit them against 4th seeds Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei.

The BWF World Championship are from August 25 to 31 and will be streamed on JioHotstar.