Lakshya Sen endures defeat against a relentless Garret Tan

New Delhi, 19 August 2026: Lakshya Sen's run at the BWF World Championships came to an abrupt and painful halt on Wednesday, as the 14th seed was stunned by USA's Garret Tan, ranked a distant world No. 92, in a match that swung through three tense games before ending 21-19, 19-21, 17-21 in the American's favour at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. PV Sindhu and Ayush Shetty kept their date with destiny firmly under control with facile victories to advance into the round of 16.

Sindhu handed Wen Yu Zhang a lesson in controlled badminton, attacking and defending almost at will, almost using the match to prepare for her upcoming battle against a familiar foe. Wang Zhi Yi has a 5-3 record over Sindhu, but the Indian giant has a 8-0 record against Chinese opponents in the World Championships.

Shetty just rolled over his hapless opponent, making short work of Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-9 21-10. The rising teenager will play the eleventh seed Alwi Farhan in the next round. The duo have played seven matches so far, with the Indonesian holding a slender 4-3 advantage over the Indian.

A Strong Start for Sen

The contest against Tan began with Sen finding his rhythm quickly, drawing on the crowd's energy after a raucous few days that had seen him fight from a game down to survive his opening round against Austria's Collins Valentine Filimon. Tan, an 18-year-old who had never previously troubled a top-15 opponent on this stage, was not overawed by the occasion, but Sen's crisper strokeplay and command of the net told in the closing stages of the opener, which he closed out 21-19 to draw first blood.

The Turning Point

The second game produced the defining swing of the match. Sen went into the break at 9-11, but when they returned, Tan steered clear, earning five game points. Sen produced solid defense and controlled aggression to save four of those points. But it was all he could do to save the game; Tan took it 21-19, forcing the decider. The 2021 World Championships bronze medallist would ordinarily be expected to close things out against a player ranked nearly 80 spots away, but Tan had other ideas.

That passage encapsulated the unpredictability of the tie. Sen had a genuine chance to end the contest inside two games and could not take it, while Tan showed the composure of a player with little to lose and everything to gain, playing his shots with increasing freedom the deeper the match went.

The Decider Slips Away

The third game never allowed the Delhi crowd to settle. Both players traded stretches of good and poor form, but it was Tan who found the more consistent length as the game progressed, closing gaps at the net and stretching Sen from corner to corner. Sen's movement, sharp in patches through the first two games, could not be sustained across the closing exchanges of a physically taxing match, and Tan pulled clear in the second half of the decider to close it out 21-17, sealing one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far.

Context and Fallout

The result continues a difficult recent run for Sen at marquee events on both home and foreign soil. He had already needed to fight from a game down against the lower-ranked Filimon in the opening round, eventually recovering to win 16-21, 21-8, 21-4, and had spoken afterward about needing to adjust his tactics mid-match because of tricky drift conditions inside the arena.

Against Tan, after leading by a game, there would be no recovery once the momentum turned. The defeat also extends a pattern that has followed Sen through 2026, including a runner-up finish at the All England Open in March and a quarterfinal exit at the India Open in January, both matches in which he held winning positions before letting them slip.

For Tan, the win marks a career-defining moment. The teenager, previously best known on the junior circuit where he has held the world junior No. 1 ranking, becomes one of the standout giant-killers of this year's World Championships, following in the footsteps of India's own Ayush Shetty, who had opened the tournament by stunning defending champion and world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi in the first round.

Sen's exit leaves India's home hopes in the men's singles draw thinner than they were twenty-four hours earlier, with the Delhi crowd, so vocal in cheering him through his opening-round scare, left to fall silent as their most prominent home favourite in the event bowed out in the second round.

Men's Singles: Ayush Shetty (IND) bt Dumindu Abeywickrama (SL) 21-8, 21-10; Gareth Tan (USA) bt 14-Lakshya Sen (IND) 19-21, 21-19, 21-17; 3-Jonatan Christie (INA) bt Jia Heng Teh (SIN) 19-21, 21-19, 21-11; Rasmus Gemme (DEN) bt Lin Chun-Yi (TPE) 13-21, 21-17, 21-11;

Women's Singles: 9-PV Sindhu (IND) bt Zhang Wen Yu 21-16, 21-17 ; 13-Michelle Li (CAN) bt Unnati Hood (IND) 11-21, 21-9, 23-21

Mixed Doubles: 15-Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (IND) bt Leong Lok Chong/Ng Weng Chi (MAC) 21-11, 21-11