Seedings for the 2026 World Championships were set on the BWF World Rankings of 31 July 2026 and confirmed when the draw was made on 5 August. Sixteen seeds are placed in each discipline. Below is the complete list — all 80 of them — followed by the withdrawals that have already reshaped two draws.
- Seeded on the world rankings of 31 July 2026; draw made 5 August.
- 64 players in each singles draw, 48 pairs in each doubles draw, straight knockout throughout.
- India has four seeded entries: Satwik/Chirag (5), PV Sindhu (9), Lakshya Sen (14) and Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (15).
- Three seeds have withdrawn, including the defending mixed doubles champions.
Men’s singles seeds
| Seed | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shi Yuqi | China |
| 2 | Kunlavut Vitidsarn | Thailand |
| 3 | Jonatan Christie | Indonesia |
| 4 | Anders Antonsen | Denmark |
| 5 | Christo Popov | France |
| 6 | Chou Tien-chen | Chinese Taipei |
| 7 | Victor Lai | Canada |
| 8 | Li Shifeng | China |
| 9 | Alex Lanier | France |
| 10 | Kodai Naraoka | Japan |
| 11 | Alwi Farhan | Indonesia |
| 12 | Lin Chun-yi | Chinese Taipei |
| 13 | Loh Kean Yew | Singapore |
| 14 | Lakshya Sen | India |
| 15 | Toma Junior Popov | France |
| 16 | Weng Hongyang | China |
Women’s singles seeds
| Seed | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | An Se-young | South Korea |
| 2 | Akane Yamaguchi | Japan |
| 3 | Wang Zhiyi | China |
| 4 | Chen Yufei | China |
| 5 | Han Yue | China |
| 6 | Putri Kusuma Wardani | Indonesia |
| 7 | Ratchanok Intanon | Thailand |
| 8 | Tomoka Miyazaki | Japan |
| 9 | PV Sindhu | India |
| 10 | Pornpawee Chochuwong | Thailand |
| 11 | Nozomi Okuhara | Japan |
| 12 | Kim Ga-eun | South Korea |
| 13 | Michelle Li | Canada |
| 14 | Sim Yu-jin | South Korea |
| 15 | Line Christophersen | Denmark |
| 16 | Mia Blichfeldt | Denmark |
Men’s doubles seeds
| Seed | Pair | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kim Won-ho / Seo Seung-jae | South Korea |
| 2 | Fajar Alfian / Muhammad Shohibul Fikri | Indonesia |
| 3 | Liang Weikeng / Wang Chang | China |
| 4 | Aaron Chia / Soh Wooi Yik | Malaysia |
| 5 | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty | India |
| 6 | Goh Sze Fei / Nur Izzuddin | Malaysia |
| 7 | Chen Boyang / Liu Yi | China |
| 8 | Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi | Japan |
| 9 | Sabar Karyaman Gutama / Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani | Indonesia |
| 10 | Ben Lane / Sean Vendy | England |
| 11 | Man Wei Chong / Tee Kai Wun | Malaysia |
| 12 | Raymond Indra / Nikolaus Joaquin | Indonesia |
| 13 | Daniel Lundgaard / Mads Vestergaard | Denmark |
| 14 | Chiu Hsiang-chieh / Wang Chi-lin | Chinese Taipei |
| 15 | Kang Min-hyuk / Ki Dong-ju | South Korea |
| 16 | Kim Astrup / Anders Skaarup Rasmussen | Denmark |
Women’s doubles seeds
| Seed | Pair | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liu Shengshu / Tan Ning | China |
| 2 | Yuki Fukushima / Mayu Matsumoto | Japan |
| 3 | Baek Ha-na / Lee So-hee | South Korea |
| 4 | Jia Yifan / Zhang Shuxian | China |
| 5 | Pearly Tan / Thinaah Muralitharan | Malaysia |
| 6 | Kim Hye-jeong / Kong Hee-yong — withdrew | South Korea |
| 7 | Rin Iwanaga / Kie Nakanishi | Japan |
| 8 | Li Yijing / Luo Xumin | China |
| 9 | Gabriela Stoeva / Stefani Stoeva | Bulgaria |
| 10 | Hsieh Pei-shan / Hung En-tzu | Chinese Taipei |
| 11 | Hsu Yin-hui / Lin Jhih-yun | Chinese Taipei |
| 12 | Rachel Allessya Rose / Febi Setianingrum | Indonesia |
| 13 | Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma / Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari | Indonesia |
| 14 | Rui Hirokami / Sayaka Hobara | Japan |
| 15 | Hsu Ya-ching / Sung Yu-hsuan | Chinese Taipei |
| 16 | Lauren Lam / Allison Lee | United States |
Mixed doubles seeds
| Seed | Pair | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping | China |
| 2 | Jiang Zhenbang / Wei Yaxin | China |
| 3 | Mathias Christiansen / Alexandra Bøje | Denmark |
| 4 | Dechapol Puavaranukroh / Supissara Paewsampran | Thailand |
| 5 | Thom Gicquel / Delphine Delrue | France |
| 6 | Guo Xinwa / Chen Fanghui | China |
| 7 | Tang Chun Man / Tse Ying Suet — withdrew | Hong Kong |
| 8 | Cheng Xing / Zhang Chi | China |
| 9 | Ye Hong-wei / Nicole Gonzales Chan | Chinese Taipei |
| 10 | Goh Soon Huat / Shevon Jemie Lai | Malaysia |
| 11 | Yang Po-hsuan / Hu Ling-fang | Chinese Taipei |
| 12 | Pakkapon Teeraratsakul / Sapsiree Taerattanachai | Thailand |
| 13 | Yuichi Shimogami / Sayaka Hobara | Japan |
| 14 | Presley Smith / Jennie Gai | United States |
| 15 | Dhruv Kapila / Tanisha Crasto | India |
| 16 | Yuta Watanabe / Maya Taguchi | Japan |
The seeds who are not playing
Three seeded units have come out of the draw, and two of them matter a great deal to how the mixed doubles unfolds.
- Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei (Malaysia) — the defending mixed doubles champions and the first Malaysian pair ever to win the title, out after Toh’s ACL surgery.
- Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet (Hong Kong) — mixed doubles seed 7, withdrawn.
- Kim Hye-jeong and Kong Hee-yong (South Korea) — women’s doubles seed 6, withdrawn.
The effect is concentrated in mixed doubles: a title defence that will not happen, and a draw in which the top seeds now have a materially clearer route than the seeding alone suggests.
One more absence worth noting, though not a seeded one: Viktor Axelsen retired in April 2026, making this the first World Championships of the post-Axelsen era in men’s singles.
How the seeding actually works
Seeds are assigned strictly from the BWF World Rankings on a cut-off date — here 31 July 2026 — and then distributed through the draw so that the top two seeds cannot meet before the final, seeds 3 and 4 are placed in the opposite halves to them, and so on down. It is a mechanical process, not a selectors’ judgement.
That is why a player’s seed can lag their actual form badly. Lakshya Sen is seeded 14 despite reaching an All England final this year. Victor Lai is seeded 7 having won a Super 1000 in June. Seeding measures the last twelve months of accumulated points, not who is dangerous this week.
Common questions
How many seeds are there at the BWF World Championships?
Sixteen in each of the five disciplines, so 80 seeded players or pairs in total.
What are the seedings based on?
The BWF World Rankings published on 31 July 2026. The draw itself was made on 5 August 2026.
Which Indians are seeded at the 2026 World Championships?
Four: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at 5 in men’s doubles, PV Sindhu at 9 in women’s singles, Lakshya Sen at 14 in men’s singles, and Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto at 15 in mixed doubles.
Who is the top seed in each discipline?
Shi Yuqi (men’s singles), An Se-young (women’s singles), Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae (men’s doubles), Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning (women’s doubles), and Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping (mixed doubles).
Do seeds get a bye in the first round?
In the doubles draws, yes — with 48 pairs in a 64-slot bracket, the 16 seeded pairs receive a bye into the round of 32. The singles draws are full at 64, so every player starts in the first round.
For our discipline-by-discipline verdict on who lifts each title, read the predictions piece, and for schedule, tickets and how to watch, see the main championships guide.
Kreeda is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Badminton World Federation. Seedings and entries are as published by the BWF and are subject to late withdrawal.
