Birmingham, March 3: India's former World Championship bronze medallist, Lakshya Sen, caused the biggest upset of the opening day of the 2026 All England Open badminton championship when he defeated top seed and defending champion Shi Yuqi of China in the men's singles opening round in Birmingham on Tuesday.
Sen, who was a finalist in the prestigious All England Open in 2022, overcame the reigning world champion 23-21, 19-21, 21-17 in a match that lasted one hour and 18 minutes.
Also advancing to the second round were India's mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, who defeated the Malaysian combination of Hoo Peng Ron and Cheng Su Yin 21-17, 21-19.
However, the day undoubtedly belonged to Sen. The 24-year-old, whose only previous win over the Chinese came in the Asian Games team championships, put pressure on his more experienced opponent with an aggressive game plan in the first game and appeared to be in control after taking a 17-10 lead. But Shi fought back to make it 18-17. Sen then regained the advantage, earning three game points, but Shi saved all of them, and the match went to a fifth game.
Shi dominated the second game, while Sen had to come from behind after falling 13-19 down. However, his efforts were not enough to avoid a deciding game.
In the third and final game, Sen controlled the net brilliantly and also dominated the rallies, opening up a 16-11 advantage before earning four match points. Shi saved one, but his shot sailed long, handing the match to Sen.
Meanwhile, Malvika Bansod's campaign ended with a 21-11, 21-6 loss against third seed Chen Yu Fei of China.
Bansode is expected to deliver the best performance by an Indian female player after PV Sindhu had to withdraw from the event due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, which prevented her from travelling to Birmingham.
