Top Indian shuttlers faced setbacks in the second round of the Japan Open in Tokyo on Thursday, as both Lakshya Sen and pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost their respective matches.
The men’s doubles duo of Satwik and Chirag fell to fifth fifth-seeded Chinese pair, while Lakshya Sen suffered a straight-game loss (19-21, 11-21) against home favourite Kodai Naraoka.
The former world no.1 Indian duo of Satwik-Chirag bowed out in straight games (22-24, 14-21) against the much higher-ranked Chinese duo of Liang Keng Wei and Wang Chang in 44 minutes.
This was the fourth successive defeat for Satwik-Chirag against this Chinese pair, taking their head-to-head record further down to 2-6.
Satwik-Chirag fail to hold lead
The men’s doubles match kicked off with both pairs unleashing aggressive play, neither yielding an inch. After the mid-game interval, the Indian duo, Satwik-Chirag, edged ahead with a slight 18-14 lead.
However, it didn’t last much as the Chinese pair fought back, leveling the score to force a deuce and ultimately clinching the first game 24-22 after a fierce battle.
The second game followed a similar pattern, with Satwik-Chirag taking an early four-point lead, but they couldn’t hold on, allowing the Chinese duo to seize control and win 21-14, securing the match.
Lakshya’s fifth consecutive early exit
Indian ace Lakshya Sen has not been able to find his best touch since his 4th-place finish at the Paris Olympics and hasn’t been able to reach a single semi-final on the BWF World Tour in 2025.
With his loss at the Japan Open, he has now failed to reach the quarterfinals in his fifth consecutive tournament since the All England in March 2025.
Lakshya missed opportunities in the first game against Kodai, narrowly losing 19-21, which boosted the Japanese shuttler’s confidence, enabling him to dominate the second game, 21-11.
