Kumamoto: 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 Sen will next be up against the winner of the match between Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh and Victor Lai of Canada.
But it was end of the road for another Indian Kiran George after he lost 20-22 10-21 to Malaysia’s Jing Hong Kok.
The mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also made a first round exit but not without putting up a brave fight. The Indians lost 12-21 21-19 20-22 to the American combination of Presley Smith and Jennie Gai.
Veteran Indian shuttler HS Prannoy displayed his trademark grit and resilience to edge past Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao. The world No. 35 rallied from a game down to prevail 16–21, 21–13, 23–21.