India to host Badminton World Championships after 17 years, BAI promises grand show in New Delhi

India will be hosting the next Badminton World Championships, with the tournament making a return to the nation after 17 years. India last hosted the BWF's most prestigious tournament in 2009 in Hyderabad, 17 years from, when the event will take place in the nation next in August 2026. 

The development was confirmed by the sport's global governing body, BWF, on Monday during the closing ceremony of the 2025 Championships in Paris. A handover took place between BWF president Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, Frank Laurent, chief of the Federation Francaise de Badminton, and general secretary of the Badminton Association of India Sanjay Mishra.

Meanwhile, the BAI general secretary Mishra promised that India would have a grand show in New Delhi for the event. "We assure that India will give nothing less than 100 per cent to uphold and carry forward the same standards of excellence and grandeur that



Paris has showcased. We look forward to welcoming the badminton family to Delhi," Mishra was quoted as saying in a BAI release.

"For India, hosting the Championships again highlights its standing as both a powerhouse on court and a major destination on the global badminton map," the BAI added.

Meanwhile, the Indian shuttlers have maintained their 15-year-long medal-winning streak at the Worlds. India has won at least one medal at the Championships since 2011, with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa starting the rise with their doubles medal.

The likes of PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy, among others, have carried the streak ahead.

Shetty and Rankireddy were the only medallists for India at the 2025 Worlds as they clinched a bronze after reaching the quarterfinal and ending up losing in the semis.