Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen overcame a shaky start to defeat Austria’s Collins Valentine Filimon in the opening round of the BWF Badminton World Championships 2026 in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Sen, who lost the first game 16-21, bounced back strongly to win the next two games 21-8, 21-4 and complete a 45-minute victory. After a closely fought start to the second game, Sen raised the intensity and produced a stunning run of 10 consecutive points to take control. He continued his aggressive approach in the decider, forcing Filimon into several unforced errors.
Sen will face American Garret Tan in the second round. Tan defeated Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi 21-4, 21-15.
Earlier, India’s women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produced a major upset by defeating 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee of the United States 21-15, 21-12 in just 38 minutes.
Unnati Hooda also progressed to the second round after beating Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar 22-20, 21-16.
However, India suffered disappointment in mixed doubles. Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Shivani Gadde lost 22-20, 19-21, 17-21 to Canada’s Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai, while Ashith Surya-Amrutha Pramuthesh went down 21-16, 29-30, 22-24 to Turkey’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas.
