After a successful stint at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where Indian shuttler bagged as many as five medals, the focus now shifts to World Championships that begin on 22 August. Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday released the draws for the most prestigious badminton tournament and Indian shuttlers have got really tough draws.

The 2019 World Champion PV Sindhu who is also the only gold medallist from India in 26 editions of the tournament has got a bye in the first round and is in the top half of the draw. Sindhu is expected to beat two Chinese - Han Yue and Wang Zhi Yi - in the second and third rounds before running into her nemesis An Se Young of South Korea.

Meanwhile, men’s singles gold medallist and World No.10, Lakshya Sen who also won the bronze medal at the 2021 edition is pitted against Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark. Sen then may face (if he manages to go past Vittinghus) compatriot HS Prannoy in pre-quarters who himself has a tough second-round opponent in Kento Momota of Japan.

With the tournament set to begin two weeks from now, here is everything you need to know about it.

Tournament Details

Date: 22-28 August 2022

Venue: Tokyo, Japan

Rounds: Six (R64, R32, R16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Finals)

Total Entries: 271

Total Players: 385

Schedule

1st round– August 22, 23

2nd round– August 24

3rd round– August 25

Quarter-final– August 26

Semi-final– August 27

Final – August 28

Seeded Entries

Men’s Singles

1. Viktor Axelsen

2. Kento Momota

3. Anders Antonsen

4. Chou Tien Chen

5. Lee Zii Jia

6. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting

7. Jonatan Christie

8. Loh Kean Yew

9. Lakshya Sen

10. Ng Ka Long Angus

11. Rasmus Gemke

12. Kidambi Srikanth

13. Kanta Tsuneyama

14. Lee Cheuk Yiu

15. Wang Tzu Wei

16. Kunlavut Vitidsarn

Women’s Singles

1. Akane Yamaguchi

2. Tai Tzu Ying

3. An Se Young

4. Chen Yu Fei

5. Carolina Marin

6. Nozomi Okuhara

7. Pusarla V. Sindhu

8. Ratchanok Intanon

9. He Bing Jiao

10. Pornpawee Chochuwong

11. Wang Zhi Yi

12. Busanan Ongbamrungphan

13. Michelle Li

14. Sayaka Takahashi

15. Mia Blichfeldt

16. Beiwen Zhang

Draws

Defending champions

Men’s singles – Loh Kean Yew – Singapore

Women’s singles – Akane Yamugachi – Japan

Men’s doubles – Takuro Hoki, Ugo Kobayachi

Women’s doubles – Chen Qingchen, Jia Yifan

Mixed doubles – Dechapol Puavaranukroh, Sapsiree Taerattanachai

Where to watch BWF World Championships 2022?

The tournament will be broadcast live on Voot Select. Fans can also catch timely updates on www.sportstiger.com.