Kumamoto Masters: Lakshya Sen beats Yushi Tanaka to reach semi-finals; Srikanth falls to Koki Watanabe

Lakshya Sen advanced to the men's singles semi-finals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan, a BWF World Tour Super 500 event, with a straight-games win over home player Yushi Tanaka on Friday, 13 November.

The eighth-seeded Indian won 21-16, 21-15, according to The Tribune and RevSportz. RevSportz reported that the match lasted about 40 minutes and that Lakshya now leads Tanaka 3-0 in their head-to-head meetings.

Srikanth's run ends

Kidambi Srikanth could not follow up his memorable win from the previous round. The former world No. 1 lost his quarter-final to Japan's Koki Watanabe 22-24, 15-21. The first game was tight throughout before Watanabe edged it, and the Japanese player pulled clear in the second.

RevSportz noted that it was Watanabe's first victory over Srikanth in three meetings. A day earlier, Srikanth had beaten defending champion and world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka in three games, a player he had lost to in all four of their previous matches.

With Srikanth's exit, Lakshya is the only Indian left in the tournament. India's doubles pairs, including Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in women's doubles, had already gone out in the round of 16.

In that pre-quarter-final, The Tribune reported, Srikanth recovered from 12-14 down in the opening game by winning seven straight points, and pulled away from 7-7 in the decider to close out the match 21-18 after about an hour on court.

Tough test against Farhan

Lakshya will face Indonesia's sixth seed Alwi Farhan in the semi-finals on Saturday, 14 November. The Tribune reported that the Indian has lost both of his previous matches against Farhan, making it one of his tougher assignments of the week.

A run to the final in Kumamoto would be a valuable result for Lakshya late in the season, when players are chasing ranking points before the year-end World Tour Finals.

For Indian badminton, the week has offered a mixed picture: an encouraging revival from the 33-year-old Srikanth and a steady campaign from Lakshya, but early exits for the doubles combinations.