India to host badminton World Championship in 2026

New Delhi: India will host the World Badminton Championships in 2026, the sport’s governing body BWF said on Tuesday.

India were scheduled to organise the Sudirman Cup in 2023 but the Badminton World Federation decided to award the hosting rights of the world mixed team championships to China.

The BWF was forced to shift this year’s Sudirman Cup from Suzhou, China to Vantaa, Finland due to the Covid-19 situation in the Asian country.

“Suzhou will now stage the 2023 edition of the BWF World Mixed Team Championships, with original 2023 hosts India accepting the opportunity to host the BWF World Championships in 2026,” the BWF said in a  release.

This will only be the second time that India will be hosting the world championship, with Hyderabad having played hosts to the prestigious event in 2009.

Since then, India has played hosts to various major badminton tournaments including the 2014 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals, the Asian Championships apart from the annual BWF Super



500 event, the Yonex-Sunrise India Open.

“Staging a tournament of the stature of World Championships is a great achievement for us at Badminton Association of India as well as for the country,” Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

“We are thankful to BWF for considering India for Badminton’s most prestigious and premier tournament and I believe with world class shuttlers coming to participate will not only be a great opportunity and motivation for the enthusiasts of the game but will see a huge growth for the sport across the country too.”

The Olympic-bound P V Sindhu is the reigning world champion in women’s singles. She also has two Silver and two Bronze medals at the worlds.

“Indian Badminton has seen great success with two successive medals coming from Olympics and with this latest news of the World Championships is the right stimulant for the game,” BAI general secretary Ajay Singhania said.