Sindhu and Ayush Exit as Satwik-Chirag Reach Quarters

PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty exited the World Championships singles events on Thursday, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the men’s doubles quarterfinals after a three-game comeback win. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also reached the women’s doubles last eight, keeping India’s medal hopes alive in both doubles draws.

Satwik and Chirag, bronze medallists in 2022 and 2025, recovered from the loss of the opening game to defeat Malaysia’s world No. 19 pair Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King 21-23, 21-19, 21-17 in the pre-quarterfinals. Their victory moved them one step closer to a third World Championships medal.

It was the Indian pair’s first match of the tournament after receiving a first-round bye and a second-round walkover. They now carry India’s challenge into the men’s doubles quarterfinals after a hard-fought opening outing.

Doubles pairs keep India in medal contention

Treesa and Gayatri delivered another important result for India, beating Japanese seventh seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi 21-16, 21-12 in straight games. The unseeded pair, returning to competition after Treesa’s recovery from injury, overcame the world No. 7 Japanese combination in a one-sided contest.

The result marked the first time an Indian women’s doubles pair had reached the World Championships quarterfinals since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in 2015. Treesa and Gayatri are now a step away from a maiden medal at the event.

In the men’s singles draw, 21-year-old Ayush Shetty lost 19-21, 11-21 to Indonesia’s world No. 12 Alwi Farhan. The defeat was Shetty’s fifth in eight meetings against the 11th-seeded Indonesian and ended India’s men’s singles campaign. Shetty had made an early impact in the tournament by defeating defending champion and world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi in the opening round, but could not extend that run into the quarterfinals.

Lakshya Sen had already exited the tournament on Wednesday, leaving Shetty as India’s final men’s singles representative before his defeat to Farhan.

Sindhu falls in three games against Wang Zhi Yi

Sindhu’s pursuit of an unprecedented sixth World Championships medal ended with an 11-21, 21-15, 17-21 loss to China’s world No. 3 Wang Zhi Yi. The world No. 9 Indian, competing at her 11th World Championships, had previously maintained a flawless record against Wang at the tournament despite entering the match with a 3-5 overall head-to-head record.

Wang took the first game after moving from 14-9 to 18-10 as Sindhu’s errors increased. Sindhu responded strongly in the second, building early leads and then restoring control late in the game. She led 15-13 after successive attacking winners, held her advantage at 17-15 and forced a decider when Wang failed to negotiate a tight net exchange.

Sindhu began the third game with leads of 4-1, 7-4 and 13-10. Wang closed the gap, though, and five straight points helped the Chinese player move ahead. Sindhu levelled at 15-15 and regained the lead at 16-15, before the closing stages were interrupted when Wang fell while chasing the shuttle and clutched her left thigh. After a medical timeout, Wang returned with the score at 16-16.

Wang moved ahead 18-17 after a smash and won a 54-shot rally when Sindhu sent the shuttle long. Sindhu then hit the net to give Wang three match points. Wang converted the first, before collapsing on court after the final point.

Sindhu said afterwards that the defeat hurt after the work she had put in, while stressing that every point mattered in the closing phase. With the singles campaigns over, India’s immediate World Championships hopes now rest with the two doubles pairs in the quarterfinals.