Kumamoto Masters: Lakshya beats crowd favourite to reach semis, Srikanth ousted
Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run at the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500, producing a composed performance to beat home favourite Yushi Tanaka in straight games and reach the men's singles semifinals on Friday.
The eighth-seeded Indian needed just 40 minutes to overcome the World No. 31, winning 21-16, 21-15 at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium. Despite the vociferous home support behind Tanaka, Lakshya rarely looked troubled, using his attacking game and quick follow-up shots to keep his opponent under pressure.
The victory is significant for Lakshya, who is chasing a place in the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in China. The Indian is currently 12th in the World Tour rankings with 64,980 points and needs to break into the top eight to qualify. A title run in Kumamoto would give his chances a considerable boost.
Lakshya will face sixth seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia in the semifinals. The Indian has lost both his previous meetings against the World No. 10, making Saturday's contest another important test.
Lakshya is bidding for his second successive title on the BWF Tour after winning the Hylo Open in Germany last month. Having skipped the Korea Masters, he has made an encouraging return to competition in Japan, dropping no games in his last two matches.
Lakshya gradually took control of the opening game after a tight start, with Tanaka briefly threatening a comeback before the Indian pulled away to take the lead.
The second game followed a similar pattern, with the pair locked in a close contest until Lakshya's attacking play helped him open up a decisive four-point cushion. Tanaka struggled to keep up as the Indian maintained the pressure, eventually closing out the match without much fuss.SRIKANTH BOWS OUT
Meanwhile, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth's campaign came to an end after a 22-24, 15-21 defeat to Japan's Koki Watanabe in 41 minutes.
The unseeded Indian had enjoyed an encouraging run in Kumamoto, beating Denmark's Rasmus Gemke in the opening round before producing one of the upsets of the tournament by defeating fifth seed and World No. 8 Kodai Naraoka in a three-game battle on Thursday.
Srikanth had another opportunity to extend his run against Watanabe but could not convert his chances in a closely fought opening game. He also appeared to be in control in the second, building a 12-5 lead after the change of ends.
However, the Japanese shuttler mounted a strong comeback, raising the pace and forcing Srikanth into a series of errors. Watanabe won 16 of the final 19 points to overturn the deficit and secure his place in the semifinals.- Ends
