‘Was just trying to focus on one point at a time’: Lakshya Sen after reaching India Open 2026 quarterfinals

NEW DELHI: Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen booked his place in the quarter-finals of the India Open 2026 with a straight-game win over Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in New Delhi on Thursday. After his 21-19, 21-10 victory, Lakshya reflected on his approach during the match, saying he focused on taking the game one point at a time.

“I was just trying to focus on one point at a time. I think I didn’t get the rhythm in the beginning but towards the end, I was feeling good on Court and also after 11 points, I changed the tactics a little bit. So, I was just trying to play the basics, I started lifting back and tried to defend more. He was playing really solid and I had to stick in to get points and there was no points coming from his side. So, I had to stick in there and keep fighting and I was also lucky in there”, Sen said.

#WATCH | Delhi: At the 2026 India Open Badminton Tournament, India’s Lakshya Sen says, “I was just trying to focus on one point at a time. I think I didn’t get the rhythm in the beginning but towards the end, I was feeling good on Court and also after 11 points, I changed the… pic.twitter.com/R0aYwTdZwV

— ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2026

India’s H S Prannoy, however, bowed out after a three-game battle against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. Prannoy lost 18-21, 21-19, 21-14 and said, “I scored a few good points with some misses here and there, and I also went out of focus for a while.”

World number one An Se Young of Korea continued her strong run at the tournament, registering a comfortable 21-14, 21-9 win over Huang Yu-Hsun of Chinese Taipei. Reflecting on her form, An said, “It has been a great year for me as I have achieved what I wanted.”

An-Se, the current world number one and Paris Olympics 2024 gold medalist. Out of 16 competitions she contested in last year, she won 11 titles. In 2023, she became the first-ever Korea women’s player to win a BWF World Championships gold medal in singles competition.

The India Open has been a stomping ground for the shuttler as she has won the 2023 and 2025 editions. In the women’s doubles category, Indian shuttler P Gayatri expressed satisfaction with her performance at the event. “It’s a good start. We played in the tournament previously. In this tournament, I have tried to give my 100 per cent,” she said.

India’s Malvika Bansod also shared her thoughts after her campaign came to an end against China’s Han Yue, who won 21-18, 21-15. Bansod, returning to competition after surgery, said, “It was a good tournament for me as it was the second tournament after a seven-month break post my surgery and I think I did well.”

Meanwhile, France’s Christo Popov progressed after edging past India’s Kidambi Srikanth in a closely fought contest, winning 21-14, 17-21, 21-17. Speaking after the match, Popov said, “It was a tough match today on a different level. Yesterday was also a tough match for me. I tried my best and it was a bit better, but Srikanth was really good at his game”. (ANI)