Devika Sihag has conquered the Thailand Masters 2026. The World No. 63 ,Sihag was leading 21-8 in the opening game 6-3 in the second before Malaysia’s two-time World Junior champion Goh Jin Wei retired due to ankle injury. The 20-year-old tall frame Indian shuttler with long levers showed incredible tactical maturity at Bangkok’s Nimibutr Stadium, securing her maiden BWF World Tour Super 300 title without dropping a single game while announcing the new era of Indian badminton.
For years, the weight of Indian women’s singles rested almost entirely on the shoulders of PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. With this triumph, the 20-year-old from Haryana joins the elite list as she becomes the only third Indian women singles player to win a World Tour title at the S300 level or above after legendary Saina and Sindhu.
Known for her attacking style, World No. 63 Sihag brought her trademark aggression to the fore in the opening game, unleashing a series of thunderous down the line smashes coupled with sharp placements, forcing the Malaysian into unforced errors and led 11-4 at the mid-game interval and stretched her dominance to 16-6 soon with relentless depth and pace which handed her 13 game points. Sihag finished the game with a magical backhand drop at the net winning, 21-8.
In the early phase of the second game, Malaysia’s Goh suffered an ankle twist. She attempted to continue but struggled with her movement and informed the chair umpire of her decision to retire when she was trailing 3-6, handing Sihag the maiden title triumph of her career. This also marked the first BWF World Tour title by an Indian in 2026.
The Road to the Title
Devika’s clinical run in Bangkok was nothing short of a top seeds upsetting spree. She started the campaign beating her senior Ashmita Chaliha followed by victory over Chinese Taipei’s eighth seeded and World No. 42 Ciou-Tong Tung in the pre-quarterfinals. Her biggest win of career came in the quarterfinals when she stunned home favourite top seed and world No. 16 Supanida Katethong in straight games, registering her first scalp against a top 20 player. In the semifinals she orchestrated a miraculous comeback against Chinese Taipei’s fifth seed Huang Yu-Hsun, saving the match with a seven points spree in the opener when she was trailing by five game points. The Finals saw her outclassing the two-time World Junior Champion Goh Jin Wei to secure the crown.
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