Lakshya Sen’s campaign in the 2026 BWF World Championship ended in the second round as the 2021 bronze medallist suffered an early exit in the men’s singles at the hands of the United States of America’s (USA) Garret Tan. This comes as a major blow to India’s medal hopes, as the 25-year-old was among the country’s brightest hopes after being a top performer over the years across major competitions.

Sen won a closely fought first set in the match by a 21-19 margin but ended up losing by the same margin in the second set as the American forced a decider. The 18-year-old upped his game in the third set to seal a 21-17 victory, not just knocking the home favourite but making a statement by announcing himself as one of the top young talents in the world.

The match lasted one hour and 19 minutes before the American sealed the victory in the marathon clash. A total of 118 points were played across the three sets. Tan won 61 of them, while Sen recorded 57 points in his favour during the course of the game, which was played on Court 1 with the home fans passionately cheering for him.

This means that India’s wait for a first-ever player to win multiple medals in the men’s singles at the BWF World Championships’ 49-year history continued. Prakash Padukone (bronze) won the country’s first medal in this category in 1983, while later B Sai Praneeth (bronze in 2019), Kidambi Srikanth (silver in 2021), Sen (bronze in 2021), and HS Prannoy (bronze in 2023) have stood on the podium. However, none of them have managed to win a second medal so far.

In the women’s singles, both PV Sindhu (5 medals) and Saina Nehwal (2 times) have been medalists on multiple occasions.