The call from Delhi changed everything for Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh.
The Indian mixed doubles pair had been competing at the State Championships in Dharwad when they learned that withdrawals had opened a spot in the World Championships draw. They were on the reserves list, but suddenly had a place in the main draw.
There was little time to think. They withdrew from the Dharwad tournament, packed their bags and began the roughly 1,800km journey to Delhi. They arrived on Saturday. Just four days later, they stepped onto court for the biggest match of their careers.
For 71 minutes, Ashith and Amrutha lived the dream.
AN UNEXPECTED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS DEBUT
Unlike many of the established Indian players, the pair had little time to acclimatise to the conditions at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. Players such as PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty had arrived early, while Lakshya Sen had prepared at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, where the conditions were similar to those in Delhi.
Ashith and Amrutha had none of that preparation time. What they did have was an unexpected opportunity to make their World Championships debut on home soil.
“This is what we have dreamt about. We never thought we’d get an entry for this, so as soon as we got the news, we were just very happy,” Amrutha said.
For Ashith, there was no question about leaving the State Championships midway.
“This is a much higher tournament, so we are happy about it,” he said.
NINE MATCH POINTS, ONE HEARTBREAKING DEFEAT
The opportunity soon turned into a thrilling contest.
World No. 60 Ashith and Amrutha took the opening game 21-16 against Turkiye’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas, ranked No. 71. They appeared to be on course for a memorable victory, but the match soon became a test of nerve.
The second game stretched far beyond 21 points. The Indian pair had multiple opportunities to close out the match, but Turkiye refused to give in. Sonmez and Bektas saved six match points before eventually taking the game 30-29.
The Indians had three more match points in the decider. Once again, victory remained tantalisingly close but slipped away. Turkiye eventually won the deciding game 24-22 after converting their third match point.
The final score — 16-21, 30-29, 24-22 — showed just how narrow the margins were.
“We are crushed a bit, sad that we had so many match points and yet we couldn’t take the game,” Amrutha said.
“But also happy at the moment, like we got this opportunity to play here, and we played really well.”
For Amrutha, the deciding moments were not about spectacular winners from the opposition. They were about mistakes the Indians made themselves.
“It was not any hard stroke or somewhere we got caught; it was some shuttle which was in our hand where we made a mistake ourselves,” she explained.
“I think if we had been a bit more patient and played it just inside, we could have taken the game.”
A CROWD THAT MADE IT FEEL LIKE HOME
The defeat hurt even more because the pair had something they rarely experience on the international circuit — a home crowd behind them.
Ashith, 30, and Amrutha, 23, have largely travelled independently, competing at International Challenge and International Series events. This year, they stepped up to the HSBC BWF World Tour but had endured first-round exits at six tournaments in 2026 before arriving in Delhi.
Their World Championships appearance was therefore about more than simply making the draw. A strong run could have given their ranking and careers a significant boost.
But the crowd gave the occasion another dimension.
“When we usually go abroad for tournaments, we don’t have such crowd support,” Ashith said. “Having the crowd support over here, cheering for us, feels really emotional and happy as well. Just sad that we couldn’t convert the game for them.”
The support, he added, did not create additional pressure.
“No, it was supportive actually, rather than pressure. It was motivating us more to push more, and that’s what kept us going in the second and third games.”
Amrutha also admitted that the atmosphere initially overwhelmed her, but soon became a source of energy.
“After coming here, playing here, and with the crowd support — it was incredible,” she said. “It pushed us even harder to keep going. Overall, it was a good experience.”
A DEFEAT THAT COULD STILL MATTER
There is no escaping the disappointment. Nine match points came and went across the second and third games, and the Indians will likely revisit some of those moments for a long time.
Yet their World Championships debut offered something that cannot be measured by a result sheet.
They experienced what it feels like to have a crowd rise for them. They played a 71-minute battle on one of badminton’s biggest stages. They felt the pressure, nerves and excitement of being within touching distance of a major upset.
Most importantly, they discovered that they belonged there.
“We never thought we’d get an entry for this,” Amrutha had said before the match.
The dream ended in the opening round, but it was a dream they had not even known was possible a few days earlier.
They travelled 1,800km from Dharwad to Delhi chasing an unexpected opportunity. They leave without a victory, but with something potentially more valuable — the belief and experience that they can compete on the biggest stage.
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