New Delhi [India], November 13 (ANI): Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy marched into the pre-quarterfinals of the continuing Kumamoto Masters Japan 2025 badminton match after successful their respective clashes of the primary spherical on Wednesday.
HS Prannoy, thirty fifth within the males’s singles badminton rankings, battled previous Malaysia’s world No. 22 Jun Hao Leong 16-21, 21-13, 23-21 in a 68-minute thriller on the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, based on Olympics.com.
The 33-year-old Indian badminton participant, ranked world No. 6 earlier than accidents and a bout of chikungunya disrupted his type in 2023, confirmed glimpses of his finest to outlast his higher-ranked opponent.
After conceding the primary recreation regardless of being stage at 13-all, Prannoy shifted gears within the second to stage the competition.
The decider noticed momentum swing each methods as Prannoy led 19-15 earlier than Jun Hao Leong clawed again to 19-all. Prannoy, nonetheless, held his nerve to clinch the match 23-21, saving two match factors alongside the way in which.
It has been a troublesome season for the 33-year-old Prannoy, who has not superior previous the second spherical in any of his earlier 14 BWF World Tour appearances in 2025.
Before the Kumamoto meet, Prannoy featured on the Korea Open in September, the place he made a gap spherical exit after being pressured to withdraw from his match as a consequence of harm.
Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen, seeded seventh on the BWF Super 500 match, loved a far smoother outing, as reported by Olympics.com.
Sen eased previous Japan’s unseeded Koki Watanabe 21-12, 21-16 in simply 39 minutes to arrange a round-of-16 conflict with Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh.
Among different Indians, Ayush Shetty – this yr’s US Open badminton champion – bowed out after a 21-16, 21-11 loss to 2023 world silver medallist Kodai Naraoka of Japan. The end result reversed their earlier assembly, the place Ayush Shetty had overwhelmed the Japanese participant in straight video games on the Hong Kong Open.
Kiran George, in the meantime, went right down to Malaysia’s Kok Jing Hong with a 22-20, 21-10 scoreline. Tharun Mannepalli additionally misplaced his first-round match towards the Republic of Korea’s Jeon Hyeok-jin 21-9, 21-19.
In combined doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde misplaced to the USA’s Presley Smith and Jennie Gai 21-12, 19-21, 22-20. They have been the one Indian gamers competing in doubles on the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2025.
Teenager Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye, India’s solely entry in girls’s singles, couldn’t make it to the principle spherical after dropping within the qualifiers on Tuesday. (ANI)