New Delhi: Indian badminton stars Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2026 after securing impressive victories in their respective men’s singles matches on Wednesday.
At the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, Lakshya Sen defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen in straight games, winning 21-19, 21-18 in a 49-minute contest.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also delivered a strong performance, overcoming Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke in a thrilling three-game encounter. Srikanth recovered after losing the opening game to register a 18-21, 21-16, 24-22 victory in a match lasting one hour and eight minutes.
Lakshya Eyes World Tour Finals Qualification
Lakshya, who recently won the Hylo Open, has climbed eight places to 10th in the Race to the BWF World Tour Finals standings. He will be aiming to break into the top eight to secure qualification for the season-ending tournament, scheduled to be held in China from December 9 to 13.
The Commonwealth Games champion had reached the semifinals of the Kumamoto Masters last year before losing to Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto. Earlier this season, he also finished as runner-up at the All England Open.
Indian Mixed Doubles Pairs Exit
Meanwhile, India’s campaign in mixed doubles suffered a setback as both participating pairs were eliminated.
Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K lost to Chinese Taipei’s fourth-seeded combination of Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan 16-21, 21-14, 21-14.
The other Indian pair, Tanisha Crasto and Hariharan Amsakarunan, also faced defeat, going down 7-21, 9-21 against China’s top-seeded duo of Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin.
Other Indian Shuttlers in Action
India’s Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are scheduled to face Japan’s third-seeded pair of Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in the women’s doubles round of 16 on Thursday.
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.
