Archive · 19 Aug 2026
Sindhu, Shetty Advance at Worlds Before Tough Next Tests
PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty won their matches at the Badminton World Championships.
Sindhu beat Wen Yu Zhang in two games.
Shetty also won in two games against Dumindu Abeywickrama.
Their matches were short, which helped them save energy.
Sindhu will next play Wang Zhi Yi, a very strong Chinese player.
Shetty will face Alwi Farhan, an Indonesian player he knows well.
Both next matches are expected to be much harder.
Sindhu and Shetty will also have support from the home crowd in India.
PV Sindhu defeated Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang 21-16, 21-17 in the women’s singles.
Sindhu will next face third seed Wang Zhi Yi, who leads their head-to-head 5-3.
Ayush Shetty beat Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-8, 21-10 in 26 minutes.
Shetty’s next opponent is Indonesia’s 11th seed Alwi Farhan, with their senior head-to-head tied 2-2.
Unnati Hooda lost to Michelle Li, leaving Sindhu as India’s only women’s singles player remaining.
- Who
- PV Sindhu, Ayush Shetty, Wang Zhi Yi, Alwi Farhan, Wen Yu Zhang, Dumindu Abeywickrama and Unnati Hooda were among the players involved.
- What
- Sindhu and Shetty won their matches and advanced to difficult next-round encounters at the Badminton World Championships.
- When
- The victories took place on Wednesday; their next-round matches were scheduled for the following day.
- Where
- The matches were played at the Indira Gandhi stadium in India.
- Why
- The short wins were valuable because both Indian players face stronger or highly ranked opponents in the next round.
Indian Shuttlers
Next-Round Opponents
Sindhu versus Wang
Indian Shuttlers
Sindhu has home-crowd support, recently won the Japan Open Super 750, and defeated Wang at last year’s World Championships.
Next-Round Opponents
Wang leads the head-to-head 5-3, has won their last three meetings, and says familiarity with Sindhu’s game can help her.
Shetty versus Farhan
Indian Shuttlers
Shetty enters with confidence after defeating world No. 1 Shi Yuqi in the first round and Farhan at their most recent meeting.
Next-Round Opponents
Farhan is ranked 12th in the world, is the 11th seed, and has produced consistent performances at the elite level.
- Sindhu’s result
- Defeated Wen Yu Zhang 21-16, 21-17.
- Sindhu’s next opponent
- Third seed Wang Zhi Yi of China.
- Sindhu-Wang head-to-head
- Wang leads 5-3 and has won their last three meetings.
- Shetty’s result
- Defeated Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-8, 21-10 in 26 minutes.
- Shetty’s next opponent
- 11th seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia.
- Shetty-Farhan head-to-head
- The senior-level record is tied at 2-2.
- Women’s singles
- Sindhu is the only Indian player remaining after Unnati Hooda lost to Michelle Li.