India's Lakshya Sen reacts as he plays against United States' Garret Tan during the Badminton World Championships in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)Saipan, Fullerton, Aguascalientes, Lima, Sao Paulo, Uppsala, Markham, Jotunhallen, Council Bluffs, San Salvador. These are some of the venues where American teenager Garret Tan, who defeated Lakshya Sen at his first-ever World Championships, has been plodding away, playing lower-level tournaments.The 18-year-old has no fixed training base and no permanent coach. He moves to and from Taiwan, camping at his grandparents’ because quality sparring is difficult to get in California. Tan isn’t even firmed up yet on singles and won the mixed doubles at Junior All England. His childhood coach Paula Lynn travelled to Delhi to sit for his matches at his debut Worlds. Fellow American shuttler Lauren Lam completed an all-women coaching bench, with his mother helping out with assorted support, while he evicted the big Indian hope, ranked 14th, 19-21, 21-19, 21-17, sending shockwaves through the arena.The next generation isn’t creeping up on Sen. They are at his throat. His potential roadblocks were expected to be batchmate Kunlavut Vitidsarn (25) or junior Alex Lanier (22). Not Tan, who played the World Juniors in Guwahati last October and put the twice All England finalist through the wringer.There were no glaring injury concerns for Sen, though the shoulder was strapped like usual. He had trained for a week in Guwahati, though on this day, it wasn’t the winds wounding or winding up his judgment. It was his wobbly confidence, and wrecked intent.Tan plays the typical doubles player’s aggressive ambush – a whacking smash when he’s offered the length to hit. It’s not Sen’s favourite style to tackle, but it’s nothing he hasn’t doused before. What was inexplicable was Sen offering his rookie opponent lollipop low lifts – the length so short that he contributed to his own downfall.“There is no excuse for this performance,” coach Vimal Kumar would say. Sen simply couldn’t close out the match in two games, as he repeatedly blundered through needlessly rushed brawny rallies, prolonging which would’ve given him the space to bring his brains to the table.Familiar failingVimal had been peeved by Sen’s approach in Round 1 too, in which he dropped the opening game. On Wednesday after he was edged out 21-19 in the second, it was assumed he would blitz past Tan in the decider, once sides changed. But it was never about the drift.Story continues below this adThe short lifts were such a tactical trip-up that the passive, pensive, ponderous Sen stood no chance as long as he was serving them up as if he was Tan’s junior sparrer. They betrayed a crisis of confidence, as he looked like he was in no mood to grit it out in rallies. He had spoken of avoiding nasty surprises early on, but Sen simply gets bogged down when he runs into anyone with a half-decent power-attack. He has the mind, the manipulation smarts, the montage of tricks to outlast the best. But he seems to tie in his game’s self-worth to muscle, like he’s some gym-bro.It meant if he couldn’t match Tan in style and swagger, he wouldn’t put in the court mileage to get under the shuttle and belt the downward shots. If he was on a wrestling mat, he would’ve been warned for passivity, such was his phlegmatic play.Tan, an unusually tall Asian-American, who is in the habit of asking his coach many questions since he was young, happily took the initiative and went the distance.Sen restored parity by winning the second game with a start-to-finish lead. But it still went to 21-19. Later, Sen would say he was always playing catch-up.Story continues below this ad“Always covering the leads, and under pressure. He was solid on the attack game,” the Indian would say.Change of planIf only Sen had known that Tan had his return tickets booked for Friday – Thursday mostly penciled in for Qutub Minar and Janpath – and paced himself better and calmly. When his reflexive defence came under heavy shelling, Sen folded. Yet again. Just like he did against Viktor Axelsen and Lee Zii Jia at the Olympics and Lin Chun Yi at All England.In the decider, he fell to a 4-12 deficit. One would back Sen to rumble back. And he did till 10-13. But the aggressive gear kicked in far too late, far too desperately.The American women had done a smart SWAT on Sen – given the Indian puts pressure on opponents with his explosive stomp from the front court, using his half-smashes and net tricks, he needed to be pinned to the backline. All Tan did was keep pinging tosses and clears to Sen’s forehand back corner – where countless upstarts have fancied their chances to bury him. “We noticed,” coach Lynn would say with a smile.Story continues below this adThe Orange County coach from south California – where the next Olympics will be held – would also discern that tan’s athletic attitude was bound to hassle Sen.What sets him apart as a shuttler not to be trifled with is how Tan switched up his attack zone when Sen cut the lead to 16-18. “Last couple of points I changed my flank,” he would disclose.A slide in defence saw Tan glaze out, checked out by the doctor for concussion. What was unmissable though was Sen heading to the coach’s bench, sitting down panting heavily himself. He played a disastrous floater to go 16-19 down. Tan wrapped up with two slashing smashes. Sen wasn’t even in the same frame.Shivani Naik is a senior sports journalist and Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is widely considered one of the leading voices in Indian Olympic sports journalism, particularly known for her deep expertise in badminton, wrestling, and basketball. Professional Profile Role: Assistant Editor and Columnist at The Indian Express. Specialization: While she covers a variety of sports, she is the primary authority on badminton for the publication. She also writes extensively about tennis, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics. Writing Style: Her work is characterized by "technical storytelling"—breaking down the biomechanics, tactics, and psychological grit of athletes. She often provides "long reads" that explore the personal journeys of athletes beyond the podium. Key Topics & Recent Coverage (Late 2025) Shivani Naik’s recent articles (as of December 2025) focus on the evolving landscape of Indian sports as athletes prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and beyond: Indian Badminton's "Hulks": She has recently written about a new generation of Indian shuttlers characterized by power and physicality, such as Ayush Shetty and Sathish Karunakaran, marking a shift from the traditionally finesse-based Indian style. PV Sindhu’s Resurgence: A significant portion of her late-2025 work tracks PV Sindhu’s tactical shifts under new coaching, focusing on her "sparkle" and technical tweaks to break out of career slumps. The "Group of Death": In December 2025, she provided detailed tactical previews for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign in the BWF World Tour Finals. Tactical Deep Dives: She frequently explores technical trends, such as the rise of "backhand deception" in modern badminton and the importance of court drift management in international arenas. Legacy and History: She often revisits the careers of legends like Saina Nehwal and Syed Modi, providing historical context to current Indian successes. Notable Recent Articles BWF World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag have it all to do to get through proverbial Group of Death. (Dec 2025) The age of Hulks in Indian badminton is here. (Dec 2025) Treadmill, Yoganidra and building endurance: The themes that defined the resurgence of Gayatri and Treesa. (Dec 2025) Ayush Shetty beats Kodai Naraoka: Will 20-year-old be the headline act in 2026? (Nov 2025) Modern Cinderella tale – featuring An Se-young and a shoe that fits snugly. (Nov 2025) Other Sports Interests Beyond the court, Shivani is a passionate follower of South African cricket, sometimes writing emotional columns about her irrational support for the Proteas, which started because of love for Graeme Smith's dour and doughty Test playing style despite being a left-hander, and sustained over curiosity over their heartbreaking habit of losing ICC knockouts. You can follow her detailed analysis and columns on her official Indian Express profile page. ... Read More Tags:Badminton World ChampionshipLakshya Sen