Lakshya Sen Exits Malaysia Open 2026; PV Sindhu and Doubles Team Advance

Lakshya Sen's Early Exit from Malaysia Open

In Kuala Lumpur, India’s Lakshya Sen faced a disappointing defeat at the Malaysia Open 2026 badminton tournament, falling to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals held at the Axiata Arena on Thursday.

Ranked 13th globally, Sen lost the match with scores of 22-20, 21-15 after 53 minutes of play against the world No. 18, Lee Cheuk Yiu. According to reports from Olympics.com, Sen initially led 11-9 at the interval and even had four game points in the first game. However, Lee's impressive six-point streak shifted the momentum, allowing him to clinch the first game in a tie-break. Sen struggled to regain his form in the second game, ultimately losing.

This match marked Sen's third loss in five encounters against Lee Cheuk Yiu.

Sindhu and Doubles Team Shine

Earlier in the tournament, India's two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, along with the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.

Competing in the BWF Super 1000 event, Sindhu, a former world champion, triumphed over eighth seed Tomoka Miyazaki from Japan to secure her spot in the final eight.

Currently ranked 18th in women's singles, Sindhu defeated world No. 33 Sung Shuo-yun from Chinese Taipei with scores of 21-13, 22-20, showcasing her dominance by winning the first game 21-8 and maintaining her lead to finish the match 21-13 in the second game.

In the quarterfinals, Sindhu will compete against the winner of the match between China's Gao Fang Jie and Japan's third seed Akane Yamaguchi.

In men's doubles, the third-seeded duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also progressed after a convincing 21-18, 21-11 victory over Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap, completing the match in 39 minutes. This win improved their head-to-head record against the Malaysian pair to 4-0. They will next face the winners of the match between Chen Zhi Ray/Lin Yu Chieh from Chinese Taipei and Indonesia's sixth seeds Fajar Alfian/Fikri Muhammad.

Previously, Chirag and Satwiksairaj advanced to the second round by defeating Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan from Chinese Taipei with scores of 21-13, 21-15 in just 35 minutes.