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Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen’s campaign at the China Masters ended on Wednesday. In the round of 32, Lakshya had to face defeat against Canada’s Victor Lai in straight games by 14-21, 7-21.

With this defeat, Lakshya Sen’s record this year against Victor Lai has worsened. In the four matches played between the two in 2026, Lai has won three times. He also defeated Lakshya in the round of 16 at the Thomas Cup and the China Open in July.

However, in the first encounter between the two this year, Lakshya had won. In the semi-finals of the All England Open in March, Lakshya had defeated Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in a three-game match.

This was the second consecutive disappointing tournament for Lakshya Sen. In the World Championship held in New Delhi, he had to face defeat against Garrett Tan of America in the second round.

In the China Masters, he was initially scheduled to play against Alex Lanier of France, but due to Lanier’s withdrawal after winning the title in Delhi, Lakshya once again faced Laik.

Srikanth’s spectacular victory
In the first match of the day, Kidambi Srikanth performed brilliantly and defeated Chi Yu-Ren 21-16, 21-15 to reach the round of 16.

Srikanth dominated the first game and maintained his composure in the second game too to win the match. Yu-Ren won his first BWF title at the Syed Modi International in 2023 and in the same tournament he defeated Srikanth in the first round. This time Srikanth settled the score.

Dhruv-Tanisha’s easy victory in mixed doubles
In the round of 32 of mixed doubles, India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto defeated Thailand’s Tonkid Saeheng and Tonrug Saeheng 21-8, 21-9.

Later five more Indian players will take to the court. The pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face Malaysia’s Junaidhi Arif and Kang Khai Shing, while Tanvi Sharma will play against Denmark’s Amalie Schulze.