Denmark Open: Lakshya Sen’s fight was not enough as the Indian ace crashed out in the 1st round

Lakshya Sen’s fightback in his battle with Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen was valiant but not enough as the Indian ace crashed out in the first round of the Denmark Open. Lakshya lost to Chen 18-21, 21-13, 15-21 in a titanic battle that lasted 63 minutes.

DENMARK OPEN 2026: FULL REPORT

Lakshya has struggled to find consistency in 2026 and results in two major tournaments have been disappointing. His latest setback came at the Asian Games where he bowed out to Singapore’s former world champion Loh Kean Yew in the second round of the men’s singles at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.

The Indian shuttler also suffered an unexpected early exit at the BWF World Championships in August. Sen was defeated in the second round by American Garrett Tanranked 92 in the world, who fought back to secure a 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 victory.

HOW THE MATCH HAPPENED

The first game was a tricky affair from the outset with both men battling to gain the advantage. Lakshya had an 8-6 advantage before Chen came back to take the lead.

It was Lakshya who started well right after the resumption and looked set to close out the first game as he led 18-15. But Chen produced a sensational comeback that stunned the Indian ace as he went on a six-point winning run to take home the first game.

The second game started brilliantly for Lakshya as he seemed to find his footing in the contest. He took the lead at the break and added to it after the restart to take an 18-7 lead at one point.

While Chen was able to make a comeback, it wasn’t enough and Lakshya took the match to a decision.

In the third game, Chen returned to form and let Lakshya catch up during the third game. Chen led 17-7 at one point, but the Indian ace managed to make it 19-15.

However, the Chinese rower Taipei was able to secure the victory.

Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the Round of 16 with a straight games win over France’s Arnaud Merkle. The Indian, ranked world No.31, won 22-20, 21-19 and will next face either seventh seed Alex Lanier or Hu Zhe An.

In the women’s singles, Tanvi Sharma secured her place in the next round by overcoming Japan’s Natsuki Nidair in a three-match battle. Sharma won 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 to keep her campaign alive.

She could now face compatriot PV Sindhu in the next round if the world number one gets past Germany’s Yvonne Li.

– The end