New Delhi, August 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India’s women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced another impressive performance to upset 16th seeds Allison Lee and Lauren Lam of the United States and reach the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Badminton Championships 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium on Tuesday.
The Commonwealth Games medallists, ranked 39th in the world, defeated the American pair 21-15, 21-12 in 39 minutes.
Gayatri controlled the net effectively while Treesa combined delicate drops with powerful smashes to keep their opponents under constant pressure. The Indians broke away from an early 2-2 scoreline with four successive points to establish a 6-2 advantage and maintained their lead to take the opening game.
Treesa and Gayatri made an even stronger start in the second game, winning seven consecutive points from 5-4 to move 12-4 ahead. Although the Americans produced some flashes of quality, the Indian pair never allowed them to regain control.
In women’s singles, debutant Unnati Hooda recovered from a difficult start to defeat Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar 22-20, 21-16. Unnati trailed 13-16 in the opening game before winning the crucial points to turn the contest around.
She will face 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada in the second round. Li defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-Chian 22-20, 21-12.
Later, 14th seed Lakshya Sen also recovered from a slow start to defeat Austria’s Collins Filimon 16-21, 21-8, 21-4.
Filimon, ranked 128th in the world, used his height and powerful smashes to trouble Sen in the opening game, particularly as the Indian struggled with the conditions from the difficult side of the court. Sen, however, found his rhythm in the second game and won 11 straight points from 10-8 to level the match.
He then dominated the decider, changing ends at 11-1 before completing a comfortable victory.
“I was a bit tentative in the first game because I was playing from the difficult side and was struggling to get used to the conditions. But in the second game, I knew that I would be playing from the better side, and once I found the range of my shots it was quite easy,” Sen said.
He will next face USA’s Garret Tan.
Elsewhere, fifth seed Christo Popov of France was eliminated by Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 21-17, 21-19, while former champion Nozomi Okuhara recovered from a game down to defeat Turkey’s Ozge Bayrak 18-21, 21-16, 21-9.
Fourth seed Chen Yufei of China also overcame a slow start to beat Hong Kong’s Lo Sin Yan Happy 18-21, 21-8, 21-11.
India’s mixed doubles pair Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Turkey’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas. The Indians failed to convert nine match points across the second and third games before losing 16-21, 30-29, 24-22.
In other results, fourth seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia defeated Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 15-21, 21-11, 21-18 in men’s doubles.
India’s Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi lost to Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva 7-21, 14-21, while Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde were beaten by Canada’s Jonathan Lai and Crystal Lai 20-22, 21-19, 21-17.
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