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India's star shuttler Lakshya Sen was knocked out in the opening round of the China Masters 2026 in Shenzhen on Wednesday, while former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the pre-quarterfinals, according to Olympics.com.
World No. 13 Lakshya suffered a 21-14, 21-7 defeat to Canada's world No. 9 Victor Lai in a 38-minute contest. The Indian made a strong start, racing to a 4-0 lead, but Lai fought back to take an 11-8 advantage at the interval. The Canadian then extended his lead with a five-point burst to move 17-11 ahead and eventually close out the opening game. The second game was even more one-sided, with Lai leading 11-4 at the interval before sealing a comfortable victory. The result capped another inconsistent outing for Lakshya this season. The 25-year-old had reached the All England Open final in March but has struggled to maintain that momentum, including a second-round exit at last month's World Championships in New Delhi. Meanwhile, Srikanth produced an impressive performance to overcome Chinese Taipei's world No. 21 Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15 in 35 minutes at the BWF Super 750 event. The world No. 34 Indian will take on Lai in the pre-quarterfinals. World No. 5 men's doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also began their campaign with a straight-games victory, defeating Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Kang Khai Xing 21-11, 21-16 in a 40-minute contest. The fourth-seeded Indians faced a tougher challenge in the second game, with the score tied at 16-16. Satwik and Chirag, however, produced a decisive five-point run to seal the match. They will next meet France's Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov in the pre-quarterfinals. In women's singles, Tanvi Sharma continued her strong run this season with a 21-16, 21-17 win over Denmark's world No. 40 Amalie Schulz. The world No. 26 Indian will face Japan's world No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki in the next round. The mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Olympian Tanisha Crasto also advanced to the next round, defeating Thailand's Tonkid Saeheng and Tonrug Saeheng 21-8, 21-9 in just 24 minutes. They will next face Chinese Taipei's Liu Kuang Heng and Hsu Yin-Hui. Meanwhile, Devika Sihag exited the women's singles competition after going down 21-18, 21-15 to Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova. In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde were also eliminated following a 21-16, 21-18 loss to Chinese Taipei's Wu Guan Xun and Lee Chia Hsin. (ANI)
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