Lakshya Sen stuns defending champion Shi Yuqi at All England Open 2026
Lakshya Sen shocked defending champion Shi Yuqi in the opening round of the All England Open 2026, winning in three games. Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced in mixed doubles, while Malvika Bansod exited after a straight-game defeat
Hyderabad: India’s Lakshya Sen created the biggest upset of the opening day of the All England Open 2026 when he packed off top seed and defending champion Shi Yuqi of China in the men’s singles opening round on Tuesday.
Sen, the 2022 finalist in one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments, overcame the reigning world champion 23-21, 19-21, 21-17 in an hour and 18 minutes.
Also advancing to the second round were India’s mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, who overcame the Malaysian combination of Hoo Peng Ron and Cheng Su Yin 21-17, 21-19.
But the day undoubtedly belonged to Sen. The 24-year-old, whose only win over the Chinese player before this match came in the Asian Games team championships, kept the pressure on his much more experienced opponent with an aggressive game plan in the opening game and looked like he could run away with it after taking a 17-10 lead. But Shi fought back to make it 18-17. Sen once again grabbed the initiative to earn three game points, but the Chinese player not only saved those but also another one before the Indian pocketed the game.
Shi was the aggressor in the second game and it was Sen who had to fight back from a 13-19 deficit. However, his effort was not enough to force a decider.
In the third and final game, Sen controlled the net brilliantly and also dominated the flat exchanges to open up a 16-11 advantage before earning four match points. Shi saved one of them, but his lift sailed long to hand the match to Sen.
Meanwhile, Malvika Bansod’s campaign ended with a 21-11, 21-6 loss to third seed Chen Yu Fei of China.
