‘I’m enjoying badminton much more,’ Lakshya Sen after reaching India Open 2026 quarterfinals

Lakshya Sen didn’t have the best of outings one year ago at the India Open, losing his first round match in straight games. That result was symptomatic of the kind of start to the season the Indian was having. In his first ten tournaments of 2025, he went past the second round just once while losing seven times in the first.

His form only started to turn around towards the last lap of the season, as he reached two quarterfinals, one semifinal and won one title win in his last five competitions. His sole title – the Australian Open – came in his very last competition of the year. More than being seen as a way to salvage his year, for Lakshya that result appears to have reignited his form going into the new year.

Indian badminton fans would have been hoping the 24-year-old wouldn’t take nearly as long to find his groove in 2026, and so far, that seems to be the case. Lakshya reached the quarterfinals of the season opener in Malaysia last week and is in the quarters once again – this time at the India Open in New Delhi.

The Indian, currently ranked 14th in the world, beat Japan’s World number 13 Kenta Nishimoto 21-19, 21-10 to advance to the last eight at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.

Indian badminton fans would have been hoping the 24-year-old wouldn’t take nearly as long to find his groove in 2026, and so far, that seems to be the case.
| Photo Credit:
SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

The straightforward nature of the win was in contrast to every other Indian result on the day. Lakshya was the only Indian to survive in the competition with men’s doubles pair of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, and Malvika Bansod all losing on Thursday.

The fact that Lakshya is playing a lot more confidently this year is clear by simply taking a look at the match clock. The Indian was only kept on the court for 50 minutes. In contrast, the last two encounters between the pair in 2025 lasted an hour and 17 minutes and an hour and 22 minutes, with the Japanese winning both matches.

Where every other player seemed to be struggling on a court where the shuttle drifted significantly, both along the length and breadth of the court, Lakshya managed to adjust. “I changed the tactics a little bit. I was just trying to play the basics because I was lifting short a little bit. Every time I was lifting short, he was getting the weak return from my side. I would end up struggling the whole rally. So, yeah, I think I had to play a bit more freely on the lifts. So that was key to the match,” he said.

Nishimoto didn’t make things easy for the Indian. The Japanese player isn’t one for flashy strokes but of solid game play, and it was the Indian who had to make the play. “He (Kenta) was playing very solid and I had to really stick in there to get points. There were no easy points coming from his side,” Lakshya would say.

MATCH REPORT | India Open 2026: Lakshya reaches quarterfinals; Satwik-Chirag, Prannoy, Srikanth knocked out

The shuttler from Almora only got better in the second game. “It was important to stick in there, but also vary the pace, not to play too slow with him. I also had to try to retrieve everything but most importantly, I had to quickly change the pace and finish off the big points,” he said after the match.

The result sets up a quarterfinal match against Taiwan’s Lin Chun Yi and Lakshya would be grateful for finishing his match early to get enough rest for Friday’s encounter against the World Number 12. “Against these kind of opponents you expect a longer match. So I’m happy that I was able to finish this match as soon as I did,” he said.

This was the kind of match which would have seen Lakshya struggle in the first half of the previous year, and he admitted as much. “I think everyone agrees that. I’m in a much better space definitely in terms of my game. I’m enjoying badminton much more,” he added.

As India’s top rated men’s singles player. this is exactly the kind of result fans would hope for at the start of a big season. He hopes so too, stating, “I think it was important to win the Australian Open and I would love to continue the form.”

Published on Jan 15, 2026