images courtesy: Badminton Association of India
India’s 14th seed Lakshya Sen crashed out of the BWF World Championships in the second round after a stunning 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 defeat to unseeded American Garret Tan at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. The 18-year-old Tan, ranked 92 in the world, produced one of the biggest upsets of the tournament to end the home favourite’s campaign. Sen came into this tournament as the highest ranked Indian Men's player. He won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships.
Sen started the match with a tight opening game win where he sealed 21-19. Tan responded by taking the second game by the same scoreline. In the decider the American raced to an 11-4 lead at the mid-game interval. Sen mounted a spirited comeback including a six-point streak that brought him level at 17-16. Tan regained control, moved to 20-16 and converted his second match point to close out the match in 73 minutes and picked up a huge win.
Speaking after the match, Sen gave full credit to his opponent. “I think it was a good match. I would give a lot of credit to my opponent; he played a very solid game,” he told ANI. “Towards the third set both of us were completely exhausted. I think I gave it my all in the end, but it was just not enough to win this match, and I am a little bit disappointed,” he added.
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen said that he had a hard-fought match against USA’s Garrett Tan in the men’s singles second round at the BWF Badminton World Championships. Sen credited Tan for his victory and acknowledged his strong performance. Sen added that he gave his best but… pic.twitter.com/jfRn3Cw00h
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) August 19, 2026
Unnati Hooda Crashes Out with Three-Game Thriller Loss
18-year-old Unnati Hooda’s maiden BWF World Championships campaign came to a painful end in the second round after a narrow 21-11, 9-21, 21-23 defeat to 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Wednesday in Round of 32. Hooda dominated the opening game, dictating the pace with sharp attacks and taking it 21-11. Li levelled the contest with a commanding 21-9 win in the second. The deciding game stayed tight. Hooda recovered from an early deficit, led 17-15 and later earned a match point at 20-19. She could not convert either of her advantages as Li held her nerve and closed out the match 23-21.
After the loss Hooda reflected on the fine margins. “I feel it was a good match, and she was also playing really well, and it was neck-to-neck and in the end it was a bit of nerves and a bit of how better we can control, and I had two advantages and couldn’t convert the match. I am happy with the way that I played the whole match, but I am sad that I could have converted it into a really good win,” she told ANI.
