Lakshya Sen, India’s leading men’s singles player, recovered from a scratchy start to enter the second round of the BWF World Championships 2026 here. After losing the opening game to much lower-ranked Austrian Collins Valentine Filimon, the World No. 14 found his rhythm to win 16-21, 21-8, 21-4. Sen struggled with his placement and was overly cautious in the opening game.

“My shots weren’t working when I was going for drives. He was able to play them because he’s quite tall. In the second set, I tried to open up the game with more lifts and rallies, and then I could play my shots freely. I was making a lot of errors in the first set. The game plan I came in with was different, so I had to change it a bit,” Sen said.