Indian badminton fans were left stunned at the Indira Gandhi Arena on Wednesday as Lakshya Sen crashed out of the BWF World Championships 2026 in just the second round. After surviving a major scare in his opening match, the Indian star completely lost his way against American teenager Garret Tan, who is the world no. 92.
Sen’s Round of 32 clash against Tan was a three-game battle that ended in heartbreak. He actually showed great composure early on, fighting back from a deficit to win the opening game 21-19. However, instead of taking control of the match, Sen started making too many unforced errors and allowed the American back into the match. Tan levelled the match by taking a tight second game, 21-19. In the deciding third game, Tan kept the pressure on and secured a 21-17 victory, sending Sen packing from his home tournament.
The red flags were visible from Sen’s opening clash in the Round of 64 against Austria’s Collins Valentine Filimon. Sen looked out of rhythm early on, struggling with the arena drift and dropping the first game 16-21. While he adjusted his tactics and fought back with a dominant 21-8, 21-4 comeback in 45 minutes, that opening-game lapse showed some vulnerability.
Lakshya Sen’s Pattern Of Early Exits At BWF World Championships
While anyone can have a bad day on the court, this result feels like a repeating nightmare for Sen. Last year, at the 2025 World Championships in Paris, he suffered a first-round exit at the hands of top seed Shi Yu Qi. This year, getting knocked out in the second round by an unseeded 18-year-old shows a worrying lack of tournament consistency. It is a massive drop in confidence for a player who won the World Championship bronze medal back in 2021.
2026 Season So Far
The most frustrating part about Sen’s current struggles is that he actually played some brilliant badminton earlier this year. In March 2026, he went on a giant-killing run to reach the final of the prestigious All England Open. During that tournament, he knocked out world number one Shi Yu Qi and Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng before losing a tight final to Lin Chun-Yi. He also made quarter-final runs at both the India Open and the Indonesia Masters.
