New Delhi: India’s Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run at the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 badminton tournament, securing a place in the semifinals with a convincing victory over Japan’s Yushi Tanaka on Friday. However, veteran Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth failed to join him in the last four after suffering a defeat against Japan’s Koki Watanabe.
World No. 13 Lakshya defeated Tanaka 21-16, 21-15 in a 40-minute quarterfinal encounter to maintain his strong form following his recent triumph at the Hylo Open. The eighth-seeded Indian displayed excellent control and attacking ability to overcome the home favourite in straight games.
Lakshya started strongly, establishing an 11-7 advantage in the opening game. Although Tanaka attempted to fight back with powerful cross-court smashes, the Indian maintained his composure to secure the first game.
The second game was closely contested, with both players level at 9-9. Lakshya gradually took control through aggressive smashes and accurate returns before closing out the contest.
He will now face Indonesia’s sixth seed Alwi Farhan in the semifinals. Lakshya has lost both his previous meetings against the Indonesian, who is currently ranked World No. 10.
The Indian also has an important ranking target in sight. Currently 12th in the BWF World Tour rankings with 64,980 points, he needs to break into the top eight to qualify for the season-ending tournament in China.
Meanwhile, Srikanth suffered a 22-24, 15-21 defeat against Watanabe despite making a promising start. The 33-year-old Indian appeared to be in control during the second game, building a 12-5 lead and later holding a six-point advantage.
However, a sudden loss of consistency allowed Watanabe to recover. The Japanese shuttler capitalised on Srikanth’s errors, winning 16 of the final 19 points to complete the comeback and secure his semifinal place.
Srikanth had earlier produced an impressive performance by defeating Japan’s world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka in the previous round.
