Despite Lakshya Sen’s defeat in the opening men’s singles against world championships bronze medallist Victor Lai, all other Indian players won their matches in straight games, moving the team closer to securing a quarterfinal place, according to a press release from the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

The men’s singles match between Lakshya Sen and Victor Lai was highly anticipated, following their recent marathon encounter at the All England Championships where Sen had emerged victorious. Sen started strongly, leading 11-5 in the first game and won it, but Lai took the second game before Sen equalised at 12-12 and 19-19. The match went to a third game, which Lai dominated to win 18-21, 21-19, 21-10 after one hour and 11 minutes, giving Canada the initial lead.

The former world number one men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty secured a win for India with a 21-10, 21-11 victory over Jonathan Lai and Kevin Lee, levelling the tie.

Ayush Shetty, runners-up at the Asian Championships, then advanced India ahead by overcoming a second-game rally by Brian Yang with a 21-13, 21-17 win.

The men’s doubles team of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun sealed the match with a 21-7, 21-15 win against Ty Alexander Lindeman and Nyl Yakura.

Kidambi Srikanth completed the scoreline by defeating Joshua Nguyen 21-17, 21-12.

The Indian women's team is scheduled to begin their campaign against Denmark later on Friday.

Match result:
Men's singles: Lakshya Sen lost to Victor Lai 21-18, 19-21, 10-21
Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty beat Jonathan Lai/Kevin Lee 21-10, 21-11
Men's singles: Ayush Shetty beat Brian Yang 21-13, 21-17
Men's doubles: Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun beat Ty Alexander Lindeman/Nyl Yakura 21-7, 21-15
Men's singles: Kidambi Srikanth beat Joshua Nguyen 21-17, 21-12