Garret Tan shocks Lakshya; Sindhu and Ayush progress at Badminton World Championships

Garret Tan upset India’s Lakshya Sen 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 in the second round of the Badminton World Championships in New Delhi on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, while Ayush Shetty and P.V. Sindhu won comfortable matches. Lakshya’s defeat came in one hour 13 minutes and followed a medical timeout by Tan late in the decider.

Lakshya entered the match as the home favourite, ranked 14th and a bronze medallist at the global tournament, after a narrow escape in his opening-round match; Garret Tan is described in reports as an 18-year-old American of Taiwanese descent and was World No. 92. Tan, a former junior World No. 1, produced the deciding upset in the second round here on Wednesday, executing the finish after taking a medical timeout leading 17-16 in the third game.

Tan’s offense — including powerful overhead and cross-court smashes and sharp drops — repeatedly put Lakshya under pressure and often left him out of position, though the Indian edged the opening game. In the second game Tan turned the match around, capitalising on Lakshya’s net errors and high lifts to the back court to force a decider, then raced to an 11-4 lead in the third before the home crowd helped Sen narrow the gap.

The momentum swung back when Tan’s timeout at 17-16 in the decider was followed by a sequence of jump smashes that sealed the win for the American, ending Lakshya’s run in the tournament. The match lasted one hour 13 minutes and was one of the day’s longer contests.

Ayush Shetty had a brief outing, defeating Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-8, 21-10 in 25 minutes, a result the report said was easier than some of his sparring sessions. P.V. Sindhu beat Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang 21-16, 21-17, taking 10 more minutes than Shetty to complete her victory and, according to the report, has a next-round meeting scheduled with China’s Wang Zhiyi.

Unnati Hooda lost to 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada 11-21, 21-9, 23-21, while in doubles India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced with a 21-11, 21-11 win over Lok Chong Leong and Weng Chi Ng of Macau. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were awarded a walkover after the Scottish pairing of Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle withdrew following Dunn’s injury.

Other results listed from the round included Loh Kean Yew (SIN) beating Cheuk Yiu Lee (HKG) 15-21, 21-17, 21-15; Chou Tien Chen (TPE) defeating Giovanni Toti (ITA) 21-12, 21-11; Jonatan Christie (INA) beating Jia Heng Teh (SIN) 19-21, 21-19, 21-11; Rasmus Gemke (DEN) over Chun-Yi Lin (TPE) 13-21, 21-17, 21-11; and Li Shifeng (CHN) beating Jun Hao Leong (MAS) 21-19, 21-19. In doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (INA) won 21-14, 21-13 and Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju (KOR) won 21-17, 21-14; Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan (MAS) beat Bengisu Ercetin and Nazlican Inci (TUR) 21-16, 21-13.

P.V. Sindhu’s victory sets up a pre-quarterfinal clash with Wang Zhiyi of China, and Ayush Shetty’s win moves him into the pre-quarterfinal stage as well; Lakshya Sen’s tournament ended with the second-round loss to Garret Tan.