India’s Lakshya Sen suffered an opening-round exit at the China Masters 2026 on Wednesday after going down to Canada’s Victor Lai in straight games, while former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 750 tournament.
World No. 13 Sen lost 14-21, 7-21 to world No. 9 Lai in 38 minutes. The Indian began brightly and raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening game, but Lai quickly recovered to take an 11-8 advantage at the interval. The Canadian then pulled away with a five-point run to move 17-11 ahead before closing out the game. Lai dominated the second game, establishing an 11-4 advantage at the break before completing a comfortable victory. The defeat continued an inconsistent spell for the 25-year-old Sen, who reached the All England Open final in March but exited in the second round of the World Championships in New Delhi last month. Lai has now defeated Sen three times in their four career meetings.
Srikanth sets up Lai clash
Srikanth, meanwhile, produced a composed performance to defeat Chinese Taipei’s world No. 21 Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15 in 35 minutes. The world No. 34 Indian will face Lai in the pre-quarterfinals.
India also enjoyed success in men’s doubles as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Kang Khai Xing 21-11, 21-16 in 40 minutes. The fourth-seeded Indians faced greater resistance in the second game, which was level at 16-16, before winning five consecutive points to seal the contest. They will next face France’s Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov.
Tanvi advances
In women’s singles, Tanvi Sharma defeated Denmark’s Amalie Schulz 21-16, 21-17 to reach the next round. The world No. 26 Indian will now face Japan’s world No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki.
Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also advanced in mixed doubles with a dominant 21-8, 21-9 victory over Thailand’s Tonkid Saeheng and Tonrug Saeheng in just 24 minutes. They will next meet Chinese Taipei’s Liu Kuang Heng and Hsu Yin-Hui.
There were further setbacks for India, however, as Devika Sihag lost 18-21, 15-21 to Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova in women’s singles. Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also bowed out after a 16-21, 18-21 defeat to Chinese Taipei’s Wu Guan Xun and Lee Chia Hsin in mixed doubles.