Kumamoto (Japan): (Nov 12) India’s Lakshya Sen stormed into the second round of the men’s singles event at the Kumamoto Masters Japan badminton tournament after registering a straight-game win over Koki Watanabe here on Wednesday.
Sen, seeded seventh here, took just 39 minutes to breeze past his world no.26 Japanese opponent 21-12 21-16.
The world no.15 seed will next be up against the winner of the match between Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh and Victor Lai of Canada.
The mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also made a first-round exit, though not without a brave fight. The Indians lost 12-21, 21-19, 20-22 to the American duo of Presley Smith and Jennie Gai.
Later in the day, HS Prannoy will compete against Malaysia’s Jun Hao Leong, Ayush Shetty will face fourth seed Kodai Naraoka, and Tharun Mannepalli will take on Korea’s Hyeok Jin Jeon.
