BWF World Championships 2026: Treesa-Gayatri advance, Kavipriya-Simran bow out in women's doubles

New Delhi [India], August 18 (ANI): Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand continued India's progress at the BWF World Championships 2026 with a straight-game victory over the 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Lee of the USA, while Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi's campaign ended with a defeat to Bulgaria's Stoeva sisters in the women's doubles Round of 32 here on Tuesday.
Treesa and Gayatri produced a composed performance at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, defeating the American pair of Lam and Lee 21-15, 21-12 to book their place in the Round of 16.
The Indian pair, ranked 39th in the world, maintained control through both games and did not allow their American opponents to build sustained pressure. After taking the opening game 21-15, Treesa and Gayatri stepped up their attacking play to close out the second 21-12.
Kavipriya and Simran, meanwhile, could not replicate their opening-round success as they went down 7-21, 14-21 to Bulgarian sisters Stefani Stoeva and Gabriela Stoeva.
The Indian pair had entered the Round of 32 after defeating Spain's Nikol Carulla and Carmen Maria Jimenez 22-20, 21-14 on the opening day. However, the experienced Stoeva sisters took control early and wrapped up the contest in straight games, bringing Kavipriya and Simran's home World Championships campaign to an end.
The women's doubles results came after a mixed start for India on Day 2.
Unnati Hooda provided an early positive result in women's singles, defeating Myanmar's Thet Htar Thuzar 22-20, 21-16 in her opening-round match.
Earlier, India's mixed doubles campaign suffered two setbacks. Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh, last-minute reserve entrants, lost a closely fought contest that featured a rare Golden Point at 29-29. The Indians also had opportunities in the deciding game but were unable to convert them.
Ruthvika Gadde and Rohan Kapoor also bowed out after losing 22-20, 19-21, and 17-21 to Canada's Crystal Lai and Jonathan Lai.
India had enjoyed a perfect opening day, with all five entries winning their respective Round of 64 matches, including Ayush Shetty's stunning upset of defending champion Shi Yu Qi and PV Sindhu's straight-game victory over Ireland's Sophia Noble. (ANI)