When Garret Tan took a medical timeout leading 17-16 in the decider, it looked like Lakshya Sen would finally get the stroke of luck he so desperately needed.

Instead, the 18-year-old American of Taiwanese descent would jump, smash and punch his way to the biggest win of his career so far. He packed off the home favourite 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 in an hour and 13 minutes in the second round of the badminton World championships here on Wednesday.

Having scraped through his opening-round match, Lakshya, ranked 14th and a bronze medallist at the global tournament, was expected to have an easy outing against the World No. 92 Tan.

Disappointment

But, on a day Ayush Shetty had an easier time than in his sparring sessions and P.V. Sindhu broke little sweat to reach the pre-quarterfinals, Lakshya floundered against an opponent who did not allow him any space or momentum.

The contest was as much in the mind as on the court. Tan, a former junior World No. 1, packed power in his overhead and cross-court smashes that often left Lakshya stranded in the middle. He was equally impressive with his drops but the Indian managed to edge ahead by taking the opening game.

Leading 11-8 in the second game, Tan capitalised on his opponent’s mistakes at the net with high lifts to the back of the court. Every time Lakshya looked to get a foothold, his rival unleashed smashing winners.

Tan raced to a 11-4 advantage in the decider and it looked all over for Lakshya before the Indian rode on crowd support to come within striking distance. But the American’s timeout followed by a series of jump smashes ended hopes.

Ayush, meanwhile, wrapped up his match against Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-8, 21-10 in 25 minutes and Sindhu took 10 more minutes to beat Canadian Wen Yu Zhang 21-16, 21-17 to set up a clash with Wang Zhiyi (China). Unnati Hooda, however, went down fighting 21-11, 9-21, 21-23 to 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada.

Bringing cheer

In doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced with a 21-11, 21-11 win against Lok Chong Leong and Weng Chi Ng of Macau. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got a walkover after the Scottish pair of Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle withdrew following Dunn’s injury.

Important results:

Men: Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Cheuk Yiu Lee (Hkg) 15-21, 21-17, 21-15; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Giovanni Toti (Ita) 21-12, 21-11; Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Jia Heng Teh (Sin) 19-21, 21-19, 21-11; Rasmus Gemke (Den) bt Chun-Yi Lin (Tpe) 13-21, 21-17, 21-11; Li Shifeng (Chn) bt Jun Hao Leong (Mas) 21-19, 21-19; Garret Tan (USA) bt Lakshya Sen 19-21, 21-19, 21-17; Ayush Shetty bt Dumindu Abeywickrama (SL) 21-8, 21-10. Doubles: Fajar Alfian & Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Eloi Adam & Leo Rossi (Fra) 21-14, 21-13; Kang Min Hyuk & Ki Dong Ju (Kor) bt Hariharan Amsakarunan & M.R. Arjun 21-17, 21-14; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty w/o Alexander Dunn & Adam Pringle (Sco).

Women: An Se-young (Kor) bt Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan (Ina) 21-15, 21-11; Michelle Li (Can) bt Unnati Hooda 11-21, 21-9, 23-21; P.V. Sindhu bt Wen Yu Zhang (Can) 21-16, 21-17. Doubles: Pearly Tan & Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) bt Bengisu Ercetin & Nazlican Inci (Tur) 21-16, 21-13.

Mixed doubles: Dhruv Kapila & Tanisha Crasto bt Lok Chong Leong & Weng Chi Ng (Mac) 21-11, 21-11.

Ayush Shetty, ahead of his badminton World championships debut against defending champion and World No. 1 Shi Yuqi, had assured: “Tomorrow is a new day, and it will be a different game.”

The youngster made good on his promise, sending the Chinese star packing on Monday for the biggest upset of the day and perhaps the entire tournament. He won 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 in 73 minutes despite a late surge from Shi that almost derailed his dream start.

With Ayush leading 17-6 in the decider, the match looked all wrapped up. But Shi stepped up, produced a few impeccable smashes that landed on the line and came up with delectable drops to make it 19-20.

For all the drama, the end was marked by the softest of returns to the back of the court, leaving Shi stranded at the net. The Indian, drained to even celebrate, sported only a slight smile.

Having lost the three previous meetings, including the Asia Championships final in April, Ayush was clearly prepared for Shi.

He started aggressively and did not allow his more fancied opponent to control the momentum.

The 21-year-old took an early lead, a sequence that included the longest rally of the match (45 shots) at 8-5. Shi kept hitting wide and over even as Ayush dived all over the court, fighting for every point. Taking full advantage of his height, the Indian mixed his jump smashes with soft net play.

But to Shi’s credit, he gradually grew into the match, but Ayush was never overwhelmed.

With Shi and his coach indulging in animated discussions during every break, the Chinese was not in full control of either his game or emotions. Despite an attempted comeback, he eventually bowed out.

Ayush’s win was the highlight of the Indian challenge on a day when the rest of the home hopefuls, including P.V. Sindhu, breezed through to the next round. Sindhu went past Ireland’s Sophia Noble 21-7, 21-11.

In doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand took just over half an hour for a 21-9, 21-13 win over Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez of Spain while Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi beat another Spanish pair, Nikol Carulla and Carmen Maria Jimenez, 22-20, 21-14.

Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun were leading 21-16, 6-4 when their Irish opponents Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds conceded.

Important results: Men: Ayush Shetty bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 21-14, 13-21, 21-19; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Clarence Villaflor (Phi) 21-12, 21-12; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Dominik Kwinta (Pol) 21-19, 21-13; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Dicky Dwi Pangestu (Aze) 21-19, 21-17. Doubles: Hariharan Amsakarunan & M.R. Arjun bt Scott Guildea & Paul Reynolds (Ire) 21-16, 6-4 ret.

Women: P.V. Sindhu bt Sophia Noble (Ire) 21-7, 21-11; Wang Zhi Yi (Chn) bt Beiwan Zhang (USA) 21-12, 21-13; An Se-young (Kor) bt Kaloyana Nalbantova (Bul) 21-14, 21-13; Mia Blichfeldt (Den) bt Keisha Fatimah Azzahra (Aze) 21-18, 21-4. Doubles: Treesa Jolly & Gayatri Gopichand bt Paula Lopez & Lucia Rodriguez (Esp) 21-9, 21-13; Kavipriya Selvam & Simran Singhi bt Nikol Carulla & Carmen Maria Jimenez (Esp) 22-20, 21-14.

Armed with hard work and resilience, Sachin Siwach followed the advice of his roommate-cum-mentor Amit Panghal to overcome five years of struggle, win Commonwealth Games gold, and finally make his mark at the elite level.

Sachin, who matched his fellow villager and namesake to become the second World Youth champion from Mitathal village in Haryana in 2021, battled injuries, questionable verdicts, and hard luck as he failed to make an impact at big events like the Asian Games, World Championships, and Olympic qualifiers. Meanwhile, he medalled at the Asian Championships and in World Boxing Cup stages.

Now, the CWG gold has boosted his self-belief. “Sometimes it was my mistake, sometimes not. The setbacks made me stronger. The CWG title has motivated me. I reached the top of the ladder. It’ll be easier from here on,” Sachin, the men’s 60kg champion in Glasgow, told The Hindu.

Sachin beat a range of opponents — from Canada, England, Botswana, Wales, and Namibia. He started with a win over Canada’s CWG bronze medallist Keoma-Ali Al-Ahmedieh and ended with a spectacular come-from-behind victory in the final against the big and tricky Namibian Tryagain Morning Ndevelo.

“Mine was the toughest draw. Since I had beaten the Canadian earlier, I was confident. In the final, it came down to the last round. I was determined to win gold,” he said.

Sachin wants to make amends for his quarterfinal finish, and missing out on a medal, at the last Asian Games. “It was just luck. This Asiad will be different in terms of competition. I’m confident. I’ll work on my mistakes.”

Sachin credits much of his growth to Panghal. “He was my roommate and training partner (2023-2025). I learned a lot from him — how to rectify mistakes, about diet and rest. He told me about my weak points and strengths, how to block punches and how to move my legs. Amit bhai was World No.1 and has won big medals. I learned everything from him.”

Indian men’s team head coach C.A. Kuttappa wants to see certain improvements in Sachin. “He shouldn’t bend too much. He was penalised for this in the final. Also, he should learn to adapt and box from different ranges as per the situation,” said Kuttappa.

For now, Sachin is celebrating with his family before shifting his focus to Asiad preparation.

Olympic and World championships medallist Mirabai Chanu need not push herself to claim her third consecutive gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, said National chief coach Vijay Sharma.

Mirabai totalled 205kg at the National championships at Modinagar in February before pulling out of the Asian championships at Gandhinagar in May due to a shoulder injury.

The soon-to-be 32-year-old will be eyeing her fourth CWG medal of any colour in a row in Glasgow while trying to stay injury-free.

Since an Asian Games medal has eluded Mirabai, the continental Games in Aichi-Nagoya, from September 19 to October 4, would be her priority. Sharma said it would not be prudent to push her in the women’s 48kg competition in Glasgow.

“For Mira, the CWG will be like a practice event before the Asian Games. A total of 190-195kg should be enough for her to win the CWG gold medal. Irrespective of the total, a gold is a gold. Her main target is medalling at the Asian Games,” Sharma told The Hindu.

Mirabai had won the Commonwealth championships title in Ahmedabad by a margin of 32kg after aggregating 193kg.

Apart from Mirabai, V. Ajaya Babu (79kg) will be in the race for a gold medal. M. Raja (65kg) has an outside chance of finishing on top of the podium.

Following four positive dope tests, including that of gold medal prospect N. Ajith (71kg), which led to a reduction in the country’s quota places, it will be challenging for the Indian weightlifting squad to replicate its 10-medal performance of the Birmingham Games four years ago.

The 12-member Indian weightlifting team trained at Wolverhampton University in Birmingham for more than three weeks before moving to Glasgow.

An 86kg silver medallist at the 2019 World championships and 2022 Asian Games, Deepak Punia made a strong comeback by reaching the 92kg freestyle final on the opening day of the Senior Open Ranking wrestling tournament on the Nandini Nagar Mahavidyalaya campus here on Sunday (May 10, 2026).

Looking in good shape, Punia — who was stranded at the Dubai International Airport with Sujeet Kalkal due to severe flooding in April 2024 and could not make it to the Asian Olympic qualifier in Bishkek — gave dominating performances to beat Rahul 10-0, Sachin Kumar 11-0, Abhishek (who withdrew due to an injury), Rahul Hooda ‘by fall’ and Raja 11-0 to set up a title clash with Vansh.

The biggest upset of the day happened when former Asian bronze medallist and Asian under-23 champion 24-year-old Anirudh Kumar lost to a lesser known Rohit in a 125kg round of 16 bout.

Anirudh got past Harsh and Pushpender before suffering an 8-4 defeat. Rohit fell to Shubham 3-4 in the quarterfinal, ending Anirudh’s chances of making it to the repechage round and fighting for a bronze.

Incidentally, the tournament, which was scheduled to be held in 2023 but was stopped because of the wrestlers’ protest, returned to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) calendar at the same venue.

The playing arena, which was supposed to attract all the attention because of Vinesh Phogat’s comeback from retirement before the ace wrestler was considered ineligible, received a massive number of entries as wrestlers participating here stand to get a chance to participate in World championships and Commonwealth championships selection trials.

Following a delayed start of two hours, altogether 593 freestyle wrestlers from 10 weight categories went through their bouts through the day and late into the evening before the federation decided to conduct bouts up to semifinals and hold the medal matches on Monday morning.