Lakshya Sen falls to top seed Shi Yu Qi in BWF World Championships

Paris [France], August 25 (ANI): India's ace shuttler Lakshya Sen crashed out of the ongoing BWF World Championships 2025 badminton tournament as he lost to top seed Chinese shuttler Shi Yu Qi in the opening round of the competition here on Monday.
Competing at the Adidas Arena, the same venue used for the Paris 2024 Olympics badminton events, world No. 21 Lakshya Sen fought hard but lost the contest 21-17, 21-19 in 54 minutes, as per Olympics.com.
Lakshya, a bronze medallist at the 2021 edition in Huelva, produced a spirited fight in the opening game, trading blows with the top seed in a series of long rallies.
A 52-shot exchange underlined the intensity of the contest, but Shi Yu Qi's precision in attack made the difference as he claimed the opener after 26 minutes.
The second game followed a similar script with the Indian badminton player staying on Shi Yu Qi's coattails in the early exchanges.
However, Shi Yu Qi upped the ante to bag two straight points from 19-all and sealed the contest. This was Sen's fourth loss against Shi Yu Qi in five meetings.
The 24-year-old Lakshya Sen has endured a challenging 2025 BWF World Tour season, managing just one semi-final run at the Macau Open and an All England quarter-final.
The Paris 2024 semi-finalist has also suffered two second-round and six opening-round exits this season, as per Olympics.com.
Former badminton world champion PV Sindhu will open her women's singles campaign on Tuesday against Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova. World No.34 HS Prannoy, a bronze medallist in 2023, will also begin on the same day.
In doubles, top seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty received a bye in the first round and will start their campaign later in the week.
India has won at least one medal at every edition of the Badminton World Championships since 2011. (ANI)