A solid start for top seed An Se-young as she won her women's singles Round of 64 match quite comfortably as she defeated Kaloyana Nalbantova.

The two big matches for India today will feature PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty. While Sindhu will take on world no. 141 Sofia Nobel of Ireland in the round of 64, Ayush faces a tough challenge against defending champion and top seed Shi Yuqi of China.

21-year-old Ayush Shetty faces a massive test in his first match of the BWF World Championships, as he's up against reigning world champion and current World No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China. 

The match is scheduled to start at 4:50 PM IST.

India's first match of the BWF World Championships 2026 has already happened, with the men's doubles pair of H Amsakarunan and Arjun MR securing victory in their Round of 64 match against the Irish pair of Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds. The Indian duo won the first set 21-16, and were leading 1-0 in the second set when the Irish duo retired.

Three big games are in store for us today: PV Sindhu in women's singles, Ayush Shetty in men's singles and the pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in women's doubles. All these matches are set to take place in the next few hours!

A very warm welcome to NDTV Sports for the live coverage of Day 1 of the BWF World Championships 2026! Badminton's premier competition has returned to Indian soil for the first time in 17 years.

Some big games coming up today, stay tuned for all the live updates!