BAI Picks 20-Member Badminton Team for Aichi-Nagoya 2026: Defending Doubles Champions Satwik-Chirag Return

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced the squad for the Indian badminton team at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The squad will include PV Sindhu, a double Olympic medallist and the top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who represent India in the upcoming tournament. The Indian team was selected by the BAI committee based on current national and international performances and BWF ranking up to May 26.

India's top-ranked men's singles player Lakshya Sen, the third-place finisher at last year's Asian Games H.S. Prannoy, and the former world number one Kidambi Srikanth are part of the team. These three players helped the men's team win India's first-ever silver at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. This year's Asian Games take place from September 19 to October 4. India hopes to maintain their impressive performance from the previous edition where they won a gold, silver, and bronze medal in badminton.

Based on their impressive performances in recent international tournaments, Badminton Asia Championship silver medalist Ayush Shetty, World Junior Championship silver medalist Tanvi Sharma, and Unnati Hooda have also been included in the team. BAI Secretary General Sanjay Mishra said that Indian badminton is no longer limited to individual achievements; the depth of talent is evident in every category. He stated that the impressive comebacks of Satwik and Chirag, Lakshya Sen's return to the world's top 10, and the consistently good performances of young players signal a bright future for Indian badminton.

Indian badminton has won 13 medals in Asian Games history, including a historic gold medal in the last edition. However, India's best medal haul was at the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, when the country won five bronze medals.