Mixed day for Indians as Lakshya storms into semifinals but Srikanth finally loses steam

It turned out to be a mixed day for India at the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2026 badminton tournament as Kidambi Srikanth finally ran out of steam while Lakshya Sen continued with his impressive show.

Former world No. 1 Srikanth bowed out after losing to Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the men’s singles quarterfinals on Friday. Srikanth, the 2021 BWF World Championships silver medallist, went down 24-22, 21-15 to world No. 15 Watanabe in 41 minutes.

Srikanth on a roll in Japan, Lakshya breezes through; Treesa-Gayatri knocked out

Lakshya, meanwhile, continued his impressive run of form with a 21-16, 21-15 victory over Japan’s Yushi Tanaka to reach the semifinals.

Having repeatedly fought back from difficult positions over the previous two days at the BWF Super 500 tournament, Srikanth was on course for another recovery in a tightly contested opening game at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.

Kidambi Srikanth had enjoyed an encouraging run in Kumamoto, saving two match points against Rasmus Gemke in the opening round before stunning world No. 8 and two-time World Championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka. Pics: BAI

Watanabe held a 17-14 advantage before Srikanth drew level at 17-all. The Indian player then saved two game points and later had a game point of his own at 22-21 but could not convert it. Watanabe took the next three points to pocket the opener 24-22.

Srikanth made a bright start to the second game, racing to a 4-1 lead before extending his advantage to six points at the interval. The Andhra Pradesh shuttler still held a healthy 14-9 cushion before Watanabe completely turned the contest around, reeling off 10 consecutive points to move 19-14 ahead.

Srikanth could not recover from the sudden swing as Watanabe closed out the contest in straight games. It was Watanabe’s first victory over Srikanth in three meetings.

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Srikanth had enjoyed an encouraging run in Kumamoto, saving two match points against Rasmus Gemke in the opening round before stunning world No. 8 and two-time World Championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka.

Lakshya on a roll

The eighth-seeded Lakshya wrapped up the contest in 40 minutes and has now won eight consecutive badminton matches across the Hylo Open and Kumamoto Masters Japan.

After close early exchanges in the opening game, Lakshya pulled away to lead 11-7 at the interval. Tanaka fought back after the break and reduced the deficit to a single point, but Lakshya raised his level in the closing stages to take the opener 21-16.

Lakshya Sen has now won eight consecutive badminton matches across the Hylo Open and Kumamoto Masters Japan

The second game was also evenly poised early on, with the two players locked at 9-all. Lakshya, however, gradually took control after the interval to pull clear before sealing his third successive straight-game victory in Kumamoto.

Lakshya will face sixth seed and world No. 10 Alwi Farhan of Indonesia in the semifinals on Saturday. Alwi leads Lakshya 2-0 in their head-to-head record.

Lakshya entered the Kumamoto Masters 10th in the Race to Finals standings and is looking to break into the top eight to qualify for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals. He is now the only Indian shuttler remaining in the competition.