India’s campaign at the 2025 BWF World Championships came to an end in the semifinals, with a streak-extending bronze medal for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and a series of what-ifs.
There are two diametrically opposite ways to look back on this; a failure to deal with pressure once again, or as something to cherish in tough times. For what it’s worth, that Indian badminton managed to keep the14-year streak of winning at least one World Championship medal alive despite a difficult season for top players is creditable in 2025.
This World Championship medal streak has been one of the strongest indicators of Indian badminton’s golden period in the 2010s. There’s been one medal across four disciplines stretching back to 2011 and every top Indian player has won at least one medal in these 13 years, fighting through incredible, all-time epic matches.
This streak, though, was in real danger when the draws were announced and the Indians’ lower ranking hurt their chances. Lakshya Sen played the world No 1, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy had to play the second seeds, Satwik-Chirag had two of their arch-rivals en route the podium. A week ago, no one would have been too surprised at early exits.
Instead, what followed was a week that reaffirmed how and why Indian badminton had gloriously risen on the global stage in the last decade.
We saw a 30-year-old PV Sindhu turn back time with a vintage show to stun China’s World No 2 Wang Zhi Yi and come within a game of winning a historic sixth medal. We saw HS Prannoy, illness-ravaged and battle-scarred at 33, have two match points against world No 2 Anders Antonsen. We saw youngsters Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila level up on court in real time to knock out 5th seeds Tang Chun Man and Ts Ying Suet in a discipline no one even talks about. We saw Satwik-Chirag learn from their mistakes and turn the tables on two of their toughest opponents on back-to-back days to secure the podium, exactly a year after the Paris Olympics loss against the same opponents at same venue.
Only one of these memorable performances ended with a medal but all of them showed the fight and the heart that sets the champions apart. This doesn’t paper over the evident cracks in the system and the lone medal may be cold comfort in what is a core sport for India. But for one week in Paris, Indian badminton raised medal hopes again after almost a year, and that counts as improvement despite the near-misses and what-ifs, and there was a fair share of those.
Sindhu’s throwback falls just short
The biggest what-if from the 2025 World Championships will be Sindhu’s quarterfinal exit, one win away from a medal. At 30 years of age and12 years after announcing herself with a medal at this stage as a teenager, Sindhu came close to creating a unique bit of history.
Pusarla V. Sindhu ���� faces up to No.2 seed Wang Zhi Yi ����. #BWFWorldChampionships #Paris2025 pic.twitter.com/8Vmqvglun8
– BWF (@bwfmedia) August 28, 2025
She extended her stunning record against Chinese players at the World Championship – she has never lost to one – with a straight-games, almost ruthless demolition of Wang. The Indian WR 15 came into the third-round match as a thorough underdog; with nine first-round exits in 2025 to unheralded players, taking on a player who was one of the most in-form and successful players in 2025. The gulf in form was big, but not bigger than Sindhu’s famed overhead attacking arsenal. From the outset, the Indian unleashed her power and huge wingspan to constantly wrongfoot a top opponent in the faster court conditions in Paris.
It felt like a throwback to her pre-foot surgery heydays, when her elite physicality made her game near impenetrable. Gone were the rushed movements, nervy mistakes, and that terrible line judgment that has plagued her in the last few years. Alas, all of these returned to the fore in the next match against youngster Putri Kusuma Wardani, where she faltered at the big points and squandered an advantageous position in the decider.
A win would have given the former world champion a sixth medal and a first in her 30s, having won in her teens and 20s already. She will rue her missed chances, having come so very close to the podium. In a year (indeed, years) where Sindhu’s on-court aura has deteriorated with early exits, this could have been a sweet vindication arc. It was not to be, but the spark she showed does raise the question: Does this give Sindhu some more motivation for one last push at the World Championship to be held at home in India next year?
Satwik-Chirag’s band-aid bronze
The other big question from the Paris Worlds is a more philosophical one: is Satwik-Chirag’s bronze a band-aid after avenging their Olympic exit, or is it yet another instance of their Plan A failing them at a crucial moment? It can be both.
Round of 16 action as Rankireddy/Shetty ���� square off against Liang/Wang ����. #BWFWorldChampionships #Paris2025 pic.twitter.com/qPEtDJgt1l
– BWF (@bwfmedia) August 29, 2025
The Indians beat 6th seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang and 2nd seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik – the only two active Olympic medallists – to win their second medal after three years. This was hugely significant because they have lopsided losing records against both pairs and had agonisingly lost to the Malaysians at the Olympics last year. This was not just about revenge, but tangible proof that the two had learned from their mistakes of last year; shoring up their defence to not unravel against their bogeymen again. In an injury-ravaged year, this was vital confidence to show that they do belong in the elite circle of men’s doubles. In this regard, their medal fit right in with the stories of Sindhu becoming world champion after an epic battle and two straight silver medals or Prannoy outrunning Viktor Axelsen at his home.
However, they then lost to 11th seeds Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi, getting undone by a similar tactical ploy that they had worked so hard to avoid. The Chinese opponents sent down low, flat, fast exchanges to pierce their defence and then targeted the position by raining down flick serves. It was a whiplash-inducing match, from Satwik-Chirag leading 11-5 in the first game, to going down 0-9 in the third… with seemingly no alternative plan once their attack was neutralised, Satwik’s mid-court defence targeted, and Chirag’s point-construction cramped.
That last game will be a big blow, adding to the already evident scar tissue collected from Paris. (Chirag was shaking with emotion after beating Soh-Chia, that’s how much it meant.) But the bigger blow will be the consequences; opponents have figured out how to thoroughly discomfit them on their defence and it’s working every time. One year after the Olympics and a coach change, for Satwik-Chirag to suffer from the same issue is not ideal. Something has to give, whether it’s developing a tactical mastermind of their own or learning better balance under pressure.
While these two and India’s badminton community deserves to celebrate a hard-won medal, there is a lot of backroom thinking to do on Plans B and more. Not just for men’s doubles, but for across disciplines.
Men’s singles remains a concern
Among the bigger headlines, the one talking point that went under the radar was the decline in men’s singles, especially the poor spell from Lakshya Sen. Four years ago, there was an all-Indian semifinal at the World Championship with a young Lakshya losing to Kidambi Srikanth. Now, no Indian man was seeded at the event.
Admittedly both Lakshya and Prannoy had nightmare draws facing the two best players in the world this year in Shi Yu Qi and Antonsen. But at the very same venue last year at the Olympics, Lakshya had torn through the draw to finish fourth. To not even win a game showed the shambles his game finds itself in, similar to the confidence crisis he’s had earlier. For Prannoy, not clinching one of the two match points, after battling through a trademark marathon, will be a harsh blow. But it does show that he still has what it takes to be at the top of the game.
There’s a year to the next World Championship at home and India will hope that the 20-something brigade of Lakshya, along with the likes of Ayush Shetty, Kiran George, Priyanshu Rajawat and Co step up to make it count.
