Lakshya Sen Makes Another Early Exit as Srikanth, Tanvi and SatChi Progress at China Masters

India endured a mixed day at the China Masters 2026, with Lakshya Sen suffering another early exit, while Kidambi Srikanth, Tanvi Sharma, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto progressed to the next round.

Lakshya, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, went down 14-21, 7-21 to Canada’s world No. 9 Victor Lai in just 38 minutes. It was his third defeat to Lai, with his only win coming at the All England Championships in March.

The Indian began strongly, racing to a 4-0 lead, but Lai's resolute defence gradually took control of the contest. Lakshya struggled with unforced errors and failed to regain momentum after trailing 4-11 in the second game, continuing his difficult run following an early exit at the World Championships in New Delhi.

Lakshya had originally been scheduled to face newly crowned world champion Alex Lanier of France, but Lanier withdrew from the tournament after his title-winning run at the World Championships.

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth produced a solid performance to defeat Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15. The 2021 World Championships silver medallist will now face Lai in the second round.

Teenage sensation Tanvi Sharma, 17, also advanced after beating Denmark's Amalie Schulz 21-16, 21-17. The recent Taipei Open champion will next take on Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki.

In men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, popularly known as SatChi, defeated Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Kang Khai Xing 21-11, 21-16 and will next face France's Popov brothers, Christo and Toma Junior.

Mixed doubles pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also progressed with a commanding 21-8, 21-9 win over Thailand's Tonnakorn Saeheng and Tonnicha Saeheng.

However, Devika Sihag, mixed doubles pair Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Gadde, women's singles player Unnati Hooda, and men's doubles pair MR Arjun-Hariharan Amsakarunan bowed out in the opening rounds.

The BWF Super 750 tournament in Shenzhen, which runs from September 1 to 6, continues with India still in contention across several categories.