• Source:JND
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All England Open 2026: India’s Lakshya Sen pulled off a major upset on the opening day of the 2026 All England Open by defeating top seed and defending champion Shi Yuqi from China in the first round of men’s singles on Tuesday. Sen, who was a finalist in 2022 at this prestigious badminton tournament, triumphed over the reigning world champion with scores of 23-21, 19-21, 21-17, after an intense battle lasting one hour and 18 minutes.

Also moving on to the second round are India’s mixed doubles duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, who secured their victory against the Malaysian pair of Hoo Peng Ron and Cheng Su Yin with scores of 21-17, 21-19.

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But the day undoubtedly belonged to Sen. The 24-year-old, whose only win over the Chinese before this match came in the Asian Games team championships, kept the pressure on his much-experienced opponent with an aggressive game plan in the opening game and looked like he could run away with the game 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 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 avoid 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.

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Meanwhile, Malvika Bansod’s campaign ended with a 21-11, 21-6 loss against third seed Chen Yu Fei of China.


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