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Lakshya Sen continued his fine form with a straight-games victory over Chi Yu Jen at the Kumamoto Masters.
Lakshya Sen next faces Garret Tan. (Picture Credit: BWF)
India’s Lakshya Sen bagged a straight-game win against Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen to advance to the men’s singles second round of the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 badminton tournament on Wednesday.
The eighth-seeded Indian, fresh from his title-winning campaign at the Hylo Open in Germany, overcame Chi 21-19, 21-18 in a hard-fought 68-minute encounter.
Kidambi Srikanth booked his place in the pre-quarterfinals as well, rallying from a game down to defeat Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke 18-21, 21-16, 24-22.
After dropping the opening game 18-21, Srikanth bounced back well to take the second 21-16 and force a decider. The third game proved a nail-biter, but Srikanth held his nerve to prevail 24-22 after an hour and eight minutes on court.
But India suffered losses in the doubles matches.
Dhruv Rawat and K. Maneesha suffered a 21-16, 14-21, 14-21 loss to fourth seeds Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Chinese Taipei. Meanwhile, Hariharan Amsakarunan and Tanisha Crasto were outclassed 7-21, 9-21 by top seeds Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin of China.
Lakshya, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, had lost to Chi at the Malaysia Open last year before avenging that loss at the Australia Open later in the season.
On Wednesday, it was another close match as the two fought tooth and nail for supremacy.
World No. 13 Lakshya trailed 4-7 early in the opening game, with the 24th-ranked Chi taking a narrow 11-10 advantage into the interval. The Taiwanese shuttler extended his lead to 15-11 after the break, but Lakshya gradually fought his way back, cutting the deficit to 14-16 with a cross-court smash.
Lakshya used his superior net play to unsettle Chi, creating openings before putting them away with cross-court smashes. He soon drew level at 16-all with a powerful down-the-line smash.
A well-placed smash from Chi forced Lakshya into a defensive block that found the net, helping the Taiwanese shuttler restore his two-point advantage.
(With PTI Inputs)
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Ask News18Eighth-seeded Lakshya Sen advanced to the men’s singles second round by securing a hard-fought straight-game victory of 21-19, 21-18 against Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen in a 68-minute encounter.
Ask News18November 11, 2026, 21:34 IST
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