Lakshya Sen's Japan Masters Triumph Helps India Script Historic BWF Season

Lakshya Sen's Japan Masters title triumph in Kumamoto helped India achieve its most successful-ever Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour season, with Indian players securing nine titles and four runner-up finishes in BWF Super 300 or higher-level tournaments held outside India this year, according to the Badminton Association of India (BAI). Lakshya continued his impressive run on the BWF World Tour by winning the Japan Masters on Sunday. The Paris Olympics 2024 semifinalist defeated Japan's Koki Watanabe 13-21, 21-18, 21-14 in the final, fighting back after losing the opening game.

The eighth-seeded Indian has been in excellent form, having also won the Hylo Open title earlier this month.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu won two titles this year - the Japan Open (Super 750) in July and the Hylo Open (Super 500) in November. She also finished runner-up at the French Open (Super 750) in October.

Lakshya, too, enjoyed a highly successful campaign, winning back-to-back titles at the Hylo Open (Super 500) and Japan Masters (Super 500). He also finished runner-up at the prestigious All England Open, a Super 1000-level tournament, in March.

Kidambi Srikanth added another runner-up finish for India at the US Open (Super 300).

The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claimed titles at two Super 750 events - the Singapore Open in May and the China Masters in September. They also finished runners-up at the Thailand Open in May.

In women's singles, Devika Sihag (Thailand Masters, Super 300), Tanvi Sharma (Taipei Open, Super 300) and Ashmita Chaliha (Korea Open, Super 300) also delivered title-winning performances.

Women's singles contributed the highest number of titles for India, with five crowns, including Sindhu's two triumphs.

The tally surpasses India's previous best of six titles and three runner-up finishes in 2023, making 2026 the country's most successful BWF World Tour season by this measure.

Earlier this month, Lakshya defeated Indonesia's Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-10 in the final to clinch the Hylo Open title, securing his seventh BWF World Tour crown and his second Hylo Open trophy.

The victory propelled Lakshya eight places up to 10th in the BWF World Tour Finals Race standings.

His back-to-back title wins have significantly boosted his chances of breaking into the top eight and qualifying for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, which will be held in China from December 9 to 13.

Last year, Lakshya reached the semifinals of the BWF World Tour Finals before losing to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in three games.

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

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