New Delhi: Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen stormed into the second round of the men’s singles event at the Kumamoto Masters Japan badminton tournament. Coming up with a strong performance at first at the Japan Masters, Sen registered a straight games win over home favourite Koki Watanabe to advance at the event on Wednesday.
Seventh seeded Sen claimed the match in just 39 minutes to breeze past hos world number 26 opponent from Japan 21-12, 21-16. Right from the word go, Sen was dominant in his stroke play not giving even a single chance to Watanabe to come forward and showcase his strength. In the second game, the Japanese badminton player showcased some courage but failed to take it beyond a certain point.
LAKSHYA SEN ROARS INTO THE PRE QUATERFINALS OF JAPAN MASTERS
Lakshya defeated the local boy Koki Watanabe 🇯🇵 21-12, 21-16 in the R32
A comfortable win for him and after a close 2nd game till 14-15 he took 7 out of the last 8 points to seal the deal pic.twitter.com/bO3LH9XFIE
— SPORTS ARENA🇮🇳 (@SportsArena1234) November 12, 2025
Sen proceeds, George goes down
Meanwhile, world number 15 Sen will next face the winner of the contest between Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh and Victor Lai of Canada. While Sen gave India a reason to smile, it was the end of the road for another Indian badminton player Kiran George after he went down 20-22, 10-21 to Malaysia’s Jing Hong Kok.
On the other hand, the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde were also not up to the mark as they made a first round exit only after putting up a strong fight. The Indian badminton player lost 12-21, 21-19, 20-22 to the American combination of Presley Smith and Jennie Gai.
In some other clashed later in the day, India’s HS Prannoy will be up against Malaysia’s Jun Hao Leong, Ayush Shetty will face fourth seed Kodai Naraoka, while Tharun Mannepalli will take on Korea’s Hyeok Jin Jeon.
(With PTI inputs)