Kumamoto Masters badminton: Lakshya, Kidambi march into pre-quarters

On Wednesday, Lakshya outclassed Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu Jen 21-19, 21-18 in 49 minutes at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, as per Olympics.com, while Kidambi, a former world number one, beat Denmark's Rasmus Gemke by sparking an incredible comeback, 18-21, 21-16, 24-22 in one hour and eight minutes.

Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the ongoing Kumamoto Masters Japan 2026 badminton tournament. On Wednesday, Lakshya outclassed Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu Jen 21-19, 21-18 in 49 minutes at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, as per Olympics.com, while Kidambi, a former world number one, beat Denmark's Rasmus Gemke by sparking an incredible comeback, 18-21, 21-16, 24-22 in one hour and eight minutes.

Lakshya climbed eight places to reach the 10th spot in the race to the finals after securing the Hylo Open title earlier this month. The Commonwealth Games champion will be eyeing getting into the top eight, entering the cut-off zone for the BWF World Tour Finals. The BWF Finals feature the top eight players/pairs across all disciplines and will take place this year from December 9 to 13 in China. Last year at this event, Lakshya made it to the semifinals, losing to home favourite Kenta Nishimoto in three games. He also achieved a runners-up finish in the All England Open this year. In mixed doubles, Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K were ousted by fourth seeds Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Chinese Taipei, losing 16-21, 21-14, 21-14 in 48 minutes.

The other pair, Olympian Tanisha Crasto and Hariharan Amsakarunan, lost to China's top seeds Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin of China 21-7, 21-9. On Thursday, World Championships bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will lock horns with third seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan 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 quarter-finals. (ANI)