Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth Advance At Kumamoto Masters Japan

Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2026 badminton tournament with impressive wins in the men's singles competition on Wednesday. At the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, Lakshya defeated Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu Jen 21-19, 21-18 in 49 minutes, while former world No. 1 Kidambi produced a spirited comeback to overcome Denmark's Rasmus Gemke 18-21, 21-16, 24-22 in a match lasting one hour and eight minutes. Lakshya recently climbed eight places to 10th in the Race to the BWF World Tour Finals standings after winning the Hylo Open earlier this month. The Commonwealth Games champion is aiming to break into the top eight and secure qualification for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, scheduled to be held in China from December 9 to 13.

Last year, Lakshya reached the semifinals of the Kumamoto Masters before losing to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto. Earlier this season, he also finished runner-up at the All England Open.

In mixed doubles, Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K were knocked out after losing 16-21, 21-14, 21-14 to the fourth-seeded pair of Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Chinese Taipei.

The other Indian mixed doubles pair, Tanisha Crasto and Hariharan Amsakarunan, also suffered a straight-games defeat, going down 21-7, 21-9 to Chinese top seeds Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin.

On Thursday, World Championships bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face Japan's third-seeded pair of Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in the women's doubles round of 16.

In men's doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun will take on Japan's Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi for a place in the quarterfinals.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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