Asian Games 2026: Lakshya Sen bows out after three-game battle against Singapore's Loh Kean Yew

Aichi-Nagoya: Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen bowed out of the men's singles competition at the Asian Games 2026 after suffering a three-game defeat against Singapore's Loh Kean Yew in the opening round on Saturday.

Sen made a bright start to the contest and raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening game, but Loh fought back strongly to win 10 consecutive points and take control of the match. The Singaporean entered the interval with an 11-5 advantage before closing out the first game 21-12.

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The Indian shuttler showed improvement in the second game and found his rhythm after the slow start. The contest remained closely fought in the early stages, with both players trading points, before Sen produced an attacking display towards the end to force a decider with a 21-15 win.

In the third and final game, Loh once again built an early advantage, moving ahead 8-3. Sen attempted a comeback and reduced the gap to 13-14, but the Singaporean shuttler regained control and stretched his lead to 18-14 before sealing the decider 21-14.

The defeat brought an end to Sen's men's singles campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

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Sen's exit came after India's men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also suffered an early setback, leaving the country's badminton hopes dependent on other competitors, including two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who begins her women's singles campaign.

Meanwhile, India's Sawan Barwal scripted history by winning the silver medal in the men's marathon, clocking a national record time of 2:11:37.

In athletics, Tejaswin Shankar and Thowfeeq Noushad finished fifth and seventh, respectively, after the men's decathlon 100m event, scoring 865 and 856 points.

In canoe sprint, Harshwardhan Shaktawat finished fifth in the men's kayak single 500m semifinal and advanced to Final B. Meanwhile, Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar secured second place in the mixed kayak double 500m semifinal to qualify for Final A.

In fencing, India defeated Indonesia 45-24 in the women's foil team round of 16 to progress to the quarter-finals.