India’s Lakshya Sen bowed out of the Malaysia Open 2026 badminton tournament after losing his men’s singles pre-quarterfinals match in straight games at the Stadium Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Lakshya Sen, 13th in the badminton rankings, lost 22-20, 21-15 against world No. 18 Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong China in 53 minutes.
The 24-year-old Indian badminton player started on a positive note, holding an 11-9 lead at the interval and even had four game points in the opening game.
However, a run of six consecutive points by Lee Cheuk Yiu saw Lakshya Sen lose the opener in a tie-break.
In the second game, Lakshya Sen held an 11-8 advantage at the interval but could add only four more points for the remainder of the contest as Lee Cheuk Yiu seized control to close out the match and advance to the next round.
This was Lakshya Sen’s third defeat in five matches against Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Ayush Sen, who stunned Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medal winner Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the first round, also lost his pre-quarterfinals match as India’s men’s singles challenge at the BWF Super 1000 tournament came to an end.
Up against top seed and world champion Shi Yuqi of the People’s Republic of China, Ayush Shetty lost 21-18, 18-21, 21-12 in an hour and 12 minutes.
However, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu stormed into the quarter-finals of the women’s singles after a comfortable 21-8, 21-13 win against eighth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan.
This was world No. 18 PV Sindhu’s second win in three matches against Tomoka Miyazaki.
Meanwhile, India’s top doubles duo Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also sailed into the quarter-finals.
Squaring off against Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King of Malaysia, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the match 21-18, 21-11.
