Kuala Lumpur, Jan 8 (UNI) India’s Lakshya Sen exited the Malaysia Open 2026 badminton tournament after suffering a straight-games defeat in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals at the Axiata Arena on Thursday.
World No. 13 Lakshya went down 22-20, 21-15 to Hong Kong China’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, ranked 18th, in a 53-minute contest, as per Olympics.com.
The Indian shuttler began brightly, taking an 11-9 lead at the mid-game interval of the opening game and earning four game points, but failed to capitalise as Lee reeled off six consecutive points to snatch the game in a tie-break.
Lakshya again held the advantage in the second game, leading 11-8 at the interval, but could manage only four more points thereafter as Lee took control to seal the match and progress to the quarter-finals. The loss marked Lakshya’s third defeat in five meetings against Lee Cheuk Yiu.
India’s men’s singles challenge ended earlier in the day with Ayush Shetty also bowing out in the pre-quarterfinals. Ayush, who had stunned Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the opening round, lost a hard-fought three-game encounter against top seed and reigning world champion Shi Yuqi of China, 21-18, 18-21, 21-12, in one hour and 12 minutes.
In the women’s singles, however, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the quarter-finals with a dominant 21-8, 21-13 victory over eighth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan. It was Sindhu’s second win in three meetings against the Japanese shuttler.
India also enjoyed success in men’s doubles, with top-ranked pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy moving into the quarter-finals after a straight-games win over Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King, prevailing 21-18, 21-11.
