Lakshya Sen loses to Lin Chun-Yi in India Open quarterfinal

Lakshya Sen lost to Lin Chun-Yi in the India Open 2026 quarterfinals after a close three-game battle. Sen won the opening game but Lin fought back to seal victory 17-21, 21-13, 21-18 in Delhi

Hyderabad: Lakshya Sen kept pace with Lin Chun-Yi till the very end but fell short in the final exchanges as he went down in three games, ending the host’s challenge in the India Open 2026, a HSBC BWF World Super 750 event organised by the Badminton Association of India, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi on Friday.

Sen won the opening game against Lin but then struggled from the faster side of the court to go down 17-21, 21-13, 21-18 in the men’s singles quarterfinals.

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“It was a close match. The third set was more of a pressure game. He was playing well today as per the conditions. I was not prepared for the wind today. It was not that windy yesterday. He adapted to the conditions better,” said Lakshya after the match.

“I was shaky at the net to lift the shuttle and made multiple errors from the front,” he added.

Going into the quarterfinal, Sen trailed Lin 0-4 in the head-to-head and it was clear that the Indian needed to be at his best against the speedy left-hander.

His game plan was to keep Lin near the net in the opening game when the Taipei shuttler was playing from the faster side. The strategy worked as Sen raced ahead after the mid-game interval to pocket the opening game.

But once he changed sides, Sen’s lifts began to go long and Lin was quick to pounce on shorter lifts, forcing a decider.

In the third and final game, Sen began strong by clinching the first four points but Lin slowed things down and dominated the net exchanges to keep pace with the local favourite till the change of ends. Once the players changed ends, Lin earned six straight points to take an 18-15 lead.

To his credit, Sen drew level at 18-18 before Lin stepped on the gas and opted for an all-out attack strategy to win the match in an hour and eight minutes.

Lin will now face 2025 World Championships bronze medallist Victor Lai of Canada, who defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen 21-18, 17-21, 21-15.

In the other semifinal, former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore will face third seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.

In the quarterfinals, Loh came from a game down to upset second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 14-21, 21-15, 21-17, while Christie defeated fifth seed Christo Popov of France 21-19, 21-19.

In women’s singles, former champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand defeated Beiwen Zhang 21-16, 21-12, while top seed An Se Young easily got past Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-16, 21-8.

The other semifinal will be an all-Chinese affair between second seed Wang Zhi Yi and Chen Yu Fi.