Kidambi Srikanth stuns Kodai Naraoka to enter Japan Masters QFs, Lakshya Sen also advances

Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth outplayed World No. 8 and home favourite Kodai Naraoka in a three-game thriller, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Japan Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament underway at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.

Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth outplayed World No. 8 and home favourite Kodai Naraoka in a three-game thriller, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Japan Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament underway at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium. Joining him in the last eight is newly crowned HYLO Open champion Lakshya Sen, who registered a comfortable win over his Chinese opponent, according to a press release.

Despite entering the match with a 0-4 head-to-head record against Naraoka, Srikanth showed great composure to take the opening game 21-15, winning seven consecutive points after trailing 12-14. The Japanese shuttler fought back strongly to force a decider and held the early advantage in the last game. However, Srikanth kept his nerve, drew level at 7-7 and regained control to close out the match 21-18 in 60 minutes. Srikanth will next face another Japanese opponent, World No. 15 Koki Watanabe, in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, eighth seed Lakshya Sen continued his strong run with a dominant 21-8, 21-14 victory over China's Dong Tian Yao in 35 minutes. He will take on Japan's Yushi Tanaka for a place in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, India’s campaign in the doubles events ended, with both pairs suffering defeats.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were knocked out in the women’s doubles round of 16 after going down 21-14, 21-14 to third-seeded Japanese pair Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi. In men’s doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also exited the competition after losing 21-14, 21-14 to Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in a 34-minute encounter. (ANI)