Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Badminton Championships 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on 18 August, upsetting 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Lee of the USA 21-15, 21-12 in just 39 minutes. The result was among the highlights of a productive Day 2 for India, with Lakshya Sen and Unnati Hooda also advancing to the second round.

Treesa and Gayatri Dominate the Americans

World-ranked 39th, the Indian pair — both Commonwealth Games medallists — were clinical from the outset. Gayatri controlled the net with precision while Treesa blended delicate drop shots with powerful smashes to keep the American duo off-balance throughout.

In the opening game, Treesa and Gayatri broke away with four straight points to establish a 6-2 lead and never looked back. The second game was even more commanding: the Indians reeled off seven consecutive points from 5-4 to surge to a 12-4 advantage. Despite sporadic moments of brilliance from Lam and Lee, the Americans could not mount a meaningful comeback.

Lakshya Sen Recovers After a Slow Start

Seeded 14th, Lakshya Sen dropped the opening game to Austria's Collins Filimon — world number 128 — who used his height and big smashes to exploit Sen's tentative play from the difficult side. But the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist found his rhythm in the second game, stringing together 11 straight points from 10-8 to level the match, and then ran away with the decider to win 16-21, 21-8, 21-4.

'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 Garret Tan of the USA in the second round.

Unnati Hooda Survives a Scare on Debut

Debutant Unnati Hooda showed character in her opening-round women's singles contest, recovering from a 13-16 deficit in the first game against Myanmar's Thet Htar Thuzar to win 22-20, 21-16. She will now face 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada in the second round. Li herself required extra points in the first game, defeating Chinese Taipei's Chiu Pin-Chian 22-20, 21-12.

Mixed Fortunes for India's Other Pairs

It was a night to forget for the mixed doubles pair of Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh on their World Championships debut. The Indians squandered nine match points across the second and third games before going down 16-21, 30-29, 24-22 to Turkey's Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas in a heartbreaking exit. In women's doubles, Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi were beaten 21-7, 21-14 by Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva. The mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also fell, losing 20-22, 21-19, 21-17 to Canada's Jonathan Lai and Crystal Lai.

Key Results From Day 2

Elsewhere, fifth seed Christo Popov of France was knocked out by Japan's Kenta Nishimoto 21-17, 21-19 in men's singles — one of the day's bigger upsets. Former champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan recovered from a game down to beat Turkey's Ozge Bayrak 18-21, 21-16, 21-9, while fourth seed Chen Yufei of China overcame a shaky start to defeat Hong Kong's Lo Sin Yan Happy 18-21, 21-8, 21-11. Third seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia also progressed, beating Germany's Matthias Kicklitz 21-15, 21-14.

India's campaign continues on Day 3, with Lakshya Sen and Unnati Hooda both facing stiffer tests as the draw tightens toward the quarterfinals.