New Delhi, 02 September (H.S.): Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen’s campaign at the China Masters came to an end on Wednesday after he suffered a straight-games defeat against Canada’s Victor Lai in the Round of 32.

Lakshya went down 14-21, 7-21 to Lai in a one-sided encounter, bringing his campaign at the tournament to an early close.

The defeat further worsened Lakshya Sen’s record against Victor Lai this year. The two players have faced each other four times in 2026, with Lai emerging victorious on three occasions. The Canadian had also defeated Lakshya at the Thomas Cup and in the Round of 16 at the China Open in July.

However, Lakshya had prevailed in their first meeting of the year. In the semi-final of the All England Open in March, Lakshya defeated Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in a closely fought three-game contest.

For Lakshya Sen, this was his second successive disappointing tournament. At the World Championships held in New Delhi, he was eliminated in the second round after losing to the USA’s Garrett Tan.

Lakshya was initially scheduled to face France’s Alex Lanier in the opening round of the China Masters. However, after Lanier withdrew following his title triumph in Delhi, Lakshya once again found himself up against Lai.

Srikanth Produces Impressive Win

Earlier in the day, Kidambi Srikanth produced an impressive performance to defeat China’s Chi Yu-ren 21-16, 21-15 and book his place in the Round of 16.

Srikanth dominated the opening game and maintained his composure in the second to seal a convincing victory. Chi Yu-ren had won his maiden BWF title at the Syed Modi International in 2023, where he had also defeated Srikanth in the opening round. This time, however, Srikanth settled the score.

Dhruv-Tanisha Cruise to Easy Mixed Doubles Victory

In the mixed doubles Round of 32, India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto registered a comfortable 21-8, 21-9 victory over Thailand’s Tongsid Saeheng and Tonrug Saeheng.

Five more Indian players are scheduled to take to the court later in the day. The men’s doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Kang Khai Xing, while Tanvi Sharma will take on Denmark’s Amalie Schulz.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar