An 18-Year-Old Ranked 92nd Just Knocked Lakshya Sen Out of the World Championships
Lakshya Sen is out of the World Championships in the second round, beaten by an 18-year-old American ranked 92nd in the world. Garret Tan won 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in 73 minutes at the Indira Gandhi Arena — a result almost nobody had on their card, in a men’s singles draw that is quietly falling apart.
How it happened
The first two games were tight and split. The decider was not, at least not at first. Tan raced to 11-4 at the interval, playing with a directness that had Sen defending from the back of the court far more than he would have wanted.
Sen did what good players do and found a way back. A six-point burst cut a seven-point deficit to one at 17-16, and at that moment the match looked like it had turned. It had not. Tan steadied, pulled clear, and earned four match points at 20-16. Sen saved the first. The American took the second.
Towards the end, I was on the better side, so it was about managing my own nerves and keeping the shuttle in. I got a little rushed and was making more errors, but it was about staying calm and taking one point at a time. — Garret Tan
That is a strikingly unbothered thing to say about beating a former World Championships bronze medallist in front of a home crowd, at eighteen.
Who is Garret Tan
18 years old, representing the United States.
Ranked 92nd in the senior world rankings — and 7th in the world junior rankings, which is the number that actually explains this.
Beat a player seeded 14 here, who had reached an All England final earlier this season.
The senior ranking is the misleading one. A junior ranked seventh in the world is not a random qualifier; he is a player whose results have not caught up with his level yet. Rankings lag, and they lag hardest for teenagers who are improving month to month.
The draw is falling apart
Three of the men’s singles seeds who mattered most are now gone in three days.
Seed
Player
Out to
Round
1
Shi Yuqi — defending champion
Ayush Shetty (IND, unseeded)
Round of 64
5
Christo Popov
Kenta Nishimoto (JPN)
Round of 64
14
Lakshya Sen
Garret Tan (USA, No.92)
Round of 32
There is a pattern in all three, and it is not that the favourites played badly. It is that the ranking gap did not predict the result — because ranking measures the last twelve months, and form measures this week.
The part that is actually coachable
Strip out the names and this is a very familiar match. A player goes 11-4 down in a decider, mounts a genuine comeback to 17-16, and then loses anyway. Anyone who plays league or club badminton has been on both sides of that.
The comeback is not usually the problem. The problem is the passage that created the deficit — the six or seven points that went in a row while nothing obvious was going wrong. Those runs are almost invisible while you are playing, and they are the single most common way close matches are decided.
Common questions
What was the score in Lakshya Sen vs Garret Tan?
Garret Tan won 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in 73 minutes in the round of 32 of the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi on 19 August.
Who is Garret Tan?
An 18-year-old American, ranked 92nd in the senior world rankings and 7th in the world junior rankings.
Which seeds have gone out in men’s singles?
Top seed and defending champion Shi Yuqi, beaten by India’s Ayush Shetty in the first round; fifth seed Christo Popov, beaten by Kenta Nishimoto; and 14th seed Lakshya Sen.
The rest of India’s day, including who is still in, is here.
Kreeda is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Badminton World Federation. Scores as reported on 19 August 2026; some outlets have published the game order differently.
