Lakshya Sen Exits Early from China Masters Badminton Tournament
Lakshya Sen's Early Exit
A file image of Ashmita Chaliha
Shenzhen, Sep 2: Lakshya Sen's journey at the China Masters concluded prematurely on Wednesday as he faced a defeat against Canada's Victor Lai in the round of 32.
Sen lost in straight games with scores of 14-21, 7-21 to the bronze medalist from the 2026 World Championships at the Shenzhen Arena. This match marked the third time Sen has been defeated by Lai in their four encounters.
Notably, this was Lai's third victory over Sen this year, having previously triumphed at the Thomas Cup and during the round of 16 at the China Open in July. Sen's sole victory against Lai came in a challenging three-game semifinal at the All England Open in March, where he won 21-16, 18-21, 21-15.
Initially, Sen was set to compete against the newly crowned world champion Alex Lanier from France, who withdrew following his title win in New Delhi.
Last month, Sen had a disappointing performance at the World Championships held in his home country, where he was eliminated in the second round by Garret Tan from the USA.
In earlier matches, 2021 World Championships silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round after defeating Chi Yu-jen with scores of 21-16, 21-15.
In other men's singles matches, Raunak Chauhan began his campaign with a straight-games victory over Liu Yu Xuan from China, winning 21-15, 21-18. Meanwhile, Saneeth Dayanand overcame third seed Dong Tian Yao from China with a score of 9-21, 21-18, 21-15.
However, Kiran George faced a tough match, losing to Japan's Shogo Ogawa with scores of 15-21, 23-21, 10-21.
In women's singles, Anmol Kharb secured a comfortable win against Liang Ka Wing from Hong Kong, finishing 21-17, 21-9, while Ashmita Chaliha triumphed over Pornpicha Choeikeewong from Thailand with a score of 21-17, 23-21.
In mixed doubles, the Indian duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto defeated the Thai pair of Tonkid Saeheng and Tonrug Saeheng convincingly with scores of 21-8 and 21-9.
Later today, the men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will compete against Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Kang Khai Xing, while Tanvi Sharma is set to face Denmark’s Amalie Schulz.