Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024 badminton: PV Sindhu storms into second round, Lakshya Sen out

PV Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles event at the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024 badminton tournament on Wednesday but Lakshya Sen failed to make the second round in men’s singles.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, 20th in the badminton rankings, took just 38 minutes to dispatch Thailand’s world No. 11 Busanan Ongbamrungphan, by a dominating 21-12, 21-18 scoreline.

Ongbamrungphan, seeded eighth, raced to 5-1 lead early in the first game. The Indian badminton player, however, fought back to wrestle back an 11-10 advantage at the break.

Following the restart, though, it was all Sindhu, who was in complete control of the tempo of the contest.

Having taken seven points on the trot to finish off the opening game, Sindhu started the second on the same note and added four more to the sequence before the Thai could finally respond.

Like in the first game, Busanan put up a fight before the interval before falling off in the second half. Sindhu won 11 of the last 12 points in the second game to close out the one-sided contest and register her 19th win over Busanan in 20 meetings.

In the round of 16, PV Sindhu will face Michelle Li of Canada, who beat Japanese shuttler Natsuki Nidaira in straight games in her opening round match.

In the men’s singles bracket, Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen had to bow out after a hard-fought 22-20, 17-21, 16-21 loss to Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao.

The Indian shuttler, world No. 17 recovered from a 16-13 deficit to win the opening game but was outplayed in the next two games by the 31st-ranked Leong Jun Hao.

With Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand’s first round exit from women’s doubles on Tuesday, Sindhu is now the lone Indian still alive in the BWF Super 500 event.