Horsens, Denmark, 01 May (H.S.): India’s badminton team took a 1-0 lead over Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup 2026, courtesy of a brilliant victory by Lakshya Sen. The world No. 11 defeated world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen 18-21, 22-20, 21-17 in an exciting contest that lasted 1 hour and 28 minutes.

In a tense battle, Lakshya saved two match points and turned the match around. Before the contest, the head-to-head record between the two players was tied at 4-4, although Lakshya had held the upper hand in recent meetings. He started well in the opening game and led 15-10, but Chou fought back strongly to take it 21-18.

The second game was dominated by Chou, who led 13-7, but Lakshya produced a remarkable recovery to draw level at 17-17. Chou again reached two match points, yet the Indian held his nerve and clinched the game 22-20 to level the tie.

In the deciding game, Lakshya stayed ahead from the start and moved to 18-12. Chou tried to close the gap, but Lakshya finished the match 21-17 to secure a memorable win.

India will now look to strengthen its advantage, with the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty set to face Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin. In the other matches, Ayush Shetty will take on world No. 8 Lin Chun-yi, Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun will meet Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po-hsuan, while Kidambi Srikanth will face Chi Yu Jen.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar