While the world tour is currently taking place in the United States, the European Circuit is in full swing this week with the YONEX Italian Open 2026 International Series tournament.
Today is the first round of the main draw following yesterday's qualification rounds.

And we have just witnessed the first major upset. Denmark's Karan Rajan Rajarajan has defeated top seed Duc Phat Le of Vietnam in the first round of the YONEX Italian Open 2026.

There were 53 places separating the two players in the world rankings, with the Dane currently ranked No. 163 in the world. Nevertheless, Rajarajan managed to pull off the upset.

The final score was 22-20, 13-21, 21-9 in a match that swung back and forth throughout.

If you would like to watch more European badminton, make sure to follow the action for the rest of the week here on this page and on BadmintonEurope.tv.