BWF World C'ships: Lakshya Sen faces World No. 1 in opener; Treesa-Gayatri withdraw

Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced the draws for the upcoming BWF World Championships, which is scheduled to take place in Paris, France, from 25th to 31st August 2025.

The Indian contingent has found themselves on the tough end of the draws as multiple players have been drawn against higher-seeded opponents across disciplines in the early rounds.

India faced another setback before the event as the seeded women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were absent from the entry list of the draw, hence listed as a withdrawal.

Lakshya to face World No. 1 in opener

The Paris Olympics semi-finalist, Lakshya Sen, has been handed one of the toughest first-round draws possible, lining up against the current world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China.

This will mark the fifth career meeting between the two, with the Chinese shuttler holding a 3-1 lead in their head-to-head record, winning the previous three encounters, including a first-round win of the Indonesia Open 2025.

Meanwhile, HS Prannoy has a comparatively easier first-round matchup against Finland's Joakim Oldorff, but then in the second round, his potential clash will be against world no.2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark.

Anders won his last two encounters against HS Prannoy, which included a straight-game win at the 2025 Thomas Cup Group Stage encounter.

In women's singles, PV Sindhu, the lone Indian competitor, has a decent draw up to the third round, where her potential matchup will be against the world no.2 Chinese player Wang Zhiyi.

India's biggest medal hopes from the World Championships were from the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have received a bye in the first round.

In the second round, there can be an all-Indian clash between them and the second Indian pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and R. Rethinasabapathi, who face a Chinese Taipei pair in the first round.

However, the duo has a tougher road ahead as they will most probably face he former World No. 1 Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the round of 16.

The Chinese pair had a big upper hand against Satwik and Chirag in the recent past, winning all four of their previous encounters and leading the overall head-to-head record by 6-2.

First Round Indian Matchups at BWF World C'ships:

MS: Lakshya Sen (IND) Vs Shi Yu Qi (CHN)

MS: HS Prannoy (IND) Vs Joakim Oldorff (FIN)

WS: PV Sindhu (IND) Vs Kaloyana Nalbantova (BUL)

MD: Hariharan/Ruban (IND) Vs Heng/Yang (TPE)

MD: Satwik/ Chirag (IND -- Bye

WD: Priya/Shruti (IND) Vs Margot/Camille (FRA)

WD: Rutaparna/Swetaparna (IND) Vs Gabriela/Stefani (BUL)

XD: Rohan/Ruthvika (IND) Vs Ng/Leong (MAC)

XD: Dhruv/Tanisha (IND) -- Bye