New Delhi, Jan. 15 -- Former champion Lakshya Sen relied on his strong defence and injection of pace to defeat Japan's Kenta Nishimoto while Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy's inspired performances were not enough in the second round of the India Open 2026, a BWF World Tour Super 750 event being organised by the Badminton Association of India, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Thursday, as per a release.

Sen packed off Nishimoto 21-19, 21-11 to advance to the quarterfinals after Srikanth had gone down 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 against BWF World Tour Finals winner Christo Popov of France, and Prannoy lost to eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 18-21, 21-19, 21-14.

India's challenge in the women's singles also came to an end after Ch...