China Open: PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty were out in the second round, Indian challenge’s journey ended after the defeat.
Changzhou. India’s star badminton player PV Sindhu had to face defeat after a tough match against home player Chen Yufei in the women’s singles round of 16 of the China Open 2026 badminton tournament on Thursday. With this she was out of the tournament. After this, Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty also lost their respective men’s singles second round matches, ending India’s campaign in the BWF Super 1000 tournament.
Chen Yufei defeated Sindhu in three games
World number 12 PV Sindhu lost to Chen Yufei, ranked fourth in badminton, 16-21, 22-20, 21-18. The Chinese player made a brilliant comeback and made it to the quarter-finals. This was the second match between the two players on the BWF World Tour in two weeks. Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu had won the Japan Open title last week by defeating Tokyo 2020 champion Chen Yufei in the semi-finals.
Sindhu’s dominance in the first game
Chen Yufei had taken a 12-6 lead in the first game, but Sindhu made a brilliant comeback and leveled the score at 16-16. After this, he won the first game by winning five out of the next six points. In the second game also, the Indian players maintained their dominance and won four match points at 20-16. However, Chen Yufei saved all match points by winning six consecutive points and took the match to a decider.
Chen Yufei won the decisive game
In the deciding game, Sindhu was leading initially, but at the last moment Chen Yufei gained control of the game and won. This match lasted for one hour 29 minutes. This is Sindhu’s ninth defeat in 16 matches against Chen Yufei.
Ayush Shetty lost in a thrilling match
After this, world number 23 player Ayush Shetty also had to face defeat against Ireland’s number 24 player Nhat Nguyen. Ayush lost 21-15, 13-21, 20-22. Ayush Shetty was leading 19-15 in the deciding game, but he could not convert the lead into victory.
Victor Lai defeated Lakshya Sen
Lakshya Sen, who was ranked 14th in badminton rankings, lost to number eight Victor Lai of Canada 21-19, 21-11. Lakshya Sen was leading 15-9 in the first game, but after this Victor Lai made a comeback and won the match. The two players had also met in the semi-finals of the All England Open earlier this year, in which Lakshya Sen emerged victorious by winning the deciding game. Now Indian badminton players will be seen playing in the Taipei Open BWF Super 300 tournament starting from July 28.
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