India’s Lakshya Sen advanced to the semifinals of the BWF Kumamoto Japan Masters Super 500 after defeating Japan’s Yushi Tanaka in straight games in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Sen controlled the contest from the outset and secured a 21-16, 21-15 victory to book his place in the last four. He will face Indonesia’s sixth-seeded Alwi Farhan in the semifinal on Saturday, with Sen aiming to end a two-match losing record against the Indonesian.
Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth’s campaign came to an end after he was beaten by Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the quarterfinals. Watanabe edged a tightly fought opening game 24-22 before taking the second 21-15 to complete a straight-games victory.
Srikanth had earlier produced one of the tournament’s notable results by defeating world No. 8 and home favourite Kodai Naraoka in the Round of 16. Despite trailing 0-4 in their previous head-to-head meetings, the Indian held his nerve to win 21-15, 18-21, 21-18 in a 60-minute contest.
The Indian men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun, along with women’s doubles combination Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, were also eliminated after losing their respective Round of 16 matches.
With Srikanth out, Sen remains India’s sole singles contender at the Japan Masters and will now look to secure a place in the final when he takes on Farhan on Saturday.
