India’s challenge at the 2026 China Open came to an end next Thursday Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty suffered defeats in the men’s singles Round of 16 in Changzhou, China. His exits, accompanied with PV SindhuIndia’s first loss, brought the curtain down on India’s campaign at the BWF Super 1000 tournament.
Lakshya Sen loses the first match
Lakshya Sen bowed out after a straight-sets defeat to Canadian eighth seed Victor Lai, losing 19-21, 11-21. The Indian held a 15-9 lead in the opening game but was unable to capitalize as Lai produced a remarkable comeback to steal the opener before dominating the second game to seal her place in the quarter-finals.
Ayush Shetty suffers a heartbreaking defeat
Youngster Ayush Shetty came very close to reaching the last eight before losing 21-15, 13-21, 20-22 to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen. After taking the opening game, Shetty found himself in a strong position at 19-15 in the deciding game. However, Nguyen staged a stunning comeback, winning seven of the last eight points to pull out the win and eliminate the Indian shuttler.
PV Sindhu also exits in the round of 16
Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu was defeated after a spirited three-game battle against home favorite Chen Yufei. The two-time Olympic medalist lost 16-21, 22-20, 18-21, ending India’s hopes in the women’s singles competition.Attention turns to the Open and Home world championships in TaipeiWith the China Open campaign over, the Indian contingent will now turn their attention to the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open, scheduled to begin on July 28. The bigger target, however, will be the 2026 BWF World Championship, which will be held in New Delhi from August 17 to 23, where India will look to deliver a strong performance on home soil.