China Masters 2026: Kidambi Srikanth progresses to R16; Lakshya Sen exits

Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth registered a big win in the first round of the China Masters Super 750 tournament in Shenzhen, China, on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old defeated world No. 21 Chi Yu Jen in straight games, 21-16, 21-15, to register his first win on the BWF World Tour since reaching the final of the US Open in June.

He still has a tougher road ahead, as he will next take on the reigning world bronze medalist, Victor Lai of Canada, in the second round on Thursday.

Victor booked his place in the second round with a comfortable straight-games victory over Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen, winning 21-14, 21-17.

Lakshya’s poor form continued, as this marked the fifth consecutive tournament in which he failed to reach the quarterfinals on the circuit, including a disappointing home World Championships.

On the other hand, the elite Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the next round with a 21-11, 21-16 win over Arif-Kang of Malaysia.

In the women’s singles, Tanvi Sharma also began with a solid win, defeating Amalie Schulz of Denmark 21-16, 21-17. However, Devika Sihag went down to Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova 18-21, 15-21.

In mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto dominated the young Thai combination of Tonrug Saeheng and Tonkid Saeheng, winning 21-8, 21-9.

The other mixed doubles pair of Ruthvika Gadde and Rohan Kapoor exited in the first round, losing 16-21, 18-21 to the Chinese Taipei pair of Guan Xun Wu and Lee Chia Hsin.