India’s PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen were eliminated in the first round of the Denmark Open 2026 badminton tournament on Tuesday, while Tanvi Sharma and former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round of the BWF Super 750 event.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu lost 13-21, 25-23, 21-19 to Germany’s Yvonne Li, ranked 50th globally, at the SJF Bank Arena. This marked Sindhu’s first defeat in four encounters against Li, according to Olympics.com.
Sindhu began strongly, dominating the opening game, but Li responded to win the second game despite Sindhu saving five game points. In the deciding game, Sindhu held leads of 12-7 and 19-15; however, Li secured a six-point streak to clinch the match. Li will next face Tanvi Sharma, who advanced after a closely contested three-game match against Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira, winning 21-17, 16-21, 21-19.
Lakshya Sen was also ousted in the first round after a 21-18, 13-21, 21-15 defeat to world number three and sixth seed Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei. This was Sen’s fifth first-round exit in his last six BWF World Tour tournaments and his fifth loss in ten meetings against Chou.
Sen held a 18-15 lead in the opening game before Chou won six consecutive points to take it. Sen recovered to win the second game 21-13 but was unable to maintain control in the final game, allowing Chou to secure the victory.
In men’s singles, Srikanth, the 2017 Denmark Open champion, defeated France’s Arnaud Merklé 22-20, 21-19 to reach the second round.
India’s doubles campaign will commence on Wednesday with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty competing in men’s doubles, and Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand participating in women’s doubles.