Lakshya Sen beat Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-16, 21-15 in 40 minutes to reach the Kumamoto Masters semi-finals, where he meets Alwi Farhan. Kidambi Srikanth, who upset Kodai Naraoka on Thursday, lost 22-24, 15-21 to Koki Watanabe after leading 12-5 in the second game.
Kumamoto, Japan: Lakshya Sen is India’s last singles player standing at the Kumamoto Masters after a Friday that gave him a straight-games win and took Kidambi Srikanth out. Lakshya beat home player Yushi Tanaka 21-16, 21-15 in 40 minutes in the men’s singles quarter-finals, while Srikanth lost 22-24, 15-21 to Koki Watanabe despite leading 12-5 in the second game.
Lakshya takes control
The eighth seed arrived in Japan fresh from winning the Hylo Open in Germany, and he started the quarter-final briskly. Lakshya led 11-8 at the interval in the first game and took it 21-16 on his second game point. In the second, Tanaka misjudged the shuttle and sprayed shots wide as Lakshya gradually pulled clear. At 17-13 he moved to five match points and finished the job when Tanaka found the net.
On Saturday he plays Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, the sixth seed and world No. 10, who has beaten him in both of their previous meetings. Lakshya also reached the Kumamoto semi-finals last year, where he lost in three games to Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, and this Super 500 event is a stepping stone towards the BWF World Tour Finals in December.
Srikanth’s lead slips away
Srikanth, the world No. 31, had beaten fifth seed Kodai Naraoka in three games a day earlier and had won both of his previous meetings with Watanabe, the world No. 15. This time the Japanese player made him work from the start. Watanabe led by two points at the interval in the opening game, Srikanth saved two game points and earned one of his own at 21-21, but Watanabe took it 24-22.
The second game looked like Srikanth’s to level. He led 12-5, then errors crept in, with shots going wide and long and Watanabe’s smashes going unanswered. Watanabe won 16 of the last 19 points, earned six match points and closed out the match 21-15, ending India’s hopes of two semi-finalists in the men’s singles.
What it means for India
With Srikanth out, Lakshya carries India’s challenge alone into the last four. Both men had come through the round of 32 and the last 16, where Srikanth stunned Naraoka and Lakshya beat Dong Tian Yao 21-8, 21-14. India’s mixed doubles pairs and the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had already gone out.
Lakshya has now won his last two matches in Kumamoto in straight games, 21-8, 21-14 against Dong on Thursday and 21-16, 21-15 against Tanaka on Friday, and he gets a day to rest before facing Farhan. Srikanth, who had saved two game points in the first game and held one of his own at 21-21, will leave Japan with the Naraoka win as the highlight of his week.
Result: Men’s singles quarter-finals, Kumamoto Masters Japan (BWF Super 500): Lakshya Sen (India, 8) beat Yushi Tanaka (Japan) 21-16, 21-15 in 40 minutes; Koki Watanabe (Japan) beat Kidambi Srikanth (India) 24-22, 21-15. Semi-final on Saturday: Lakshya Sen v Alwi Farhan (Indonesia, 6).
