BPS State Badminton Ranking Tournament 2026

Nishant Shenai began as the top seed and finished exactly where the draw expected him—but only after 39 entries were reduced through qualifying and a 16-player main draw. Four qualifying-round walkovers shaped the opening stage, while 31 players produced 15 played matches before eight places were decided in the Qualifying Final.

The qualifiers supplied several of the draw’s strongest stories. Chirag Mahale won three matches from qualifying, including two deciding games, and reached the main-draw quarterfinal. Rahul Deswal also came through qualifying, beat sixth seed Anuj Vernekar in straight games, and reached the quarterfinal after 124 minutes across four on-court matches. Rutav Kanabar’s qualifying run included an 81 percent share of points against Pallab Samanta.

The Round of 16 removed two seeds, with Deswal beating Anuj Vernekar and Mahale defeating seventh seed Arjun Rehani. The quarterfinals then split the field: Shenai edged Deswal in three games, while third seed Soham Naik beat fifth seed Ayaan Shaikh in the tournament’s longest and closest match, a 44-minute decider decided by only four points. Fourth seed Devansh Sakpal stopped Mahale in two games, and second seed Arjun Bhagat defeated eighth seed Sushil Nayak.

Shenai beat Naik in straight games in the semifinal. Bhagat needed three games to pass Sakpal, setting up a final between the first and second seeds. Shenai won that match 31–26 on aggregate points across two games, completing a 4–0 record, an 8–1 game record and two victories over seeded opponents. The event’s 10 deciders were concentrated before the finish: the final was close, but it did not require a third game.