Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth produced a composed performance to defeat eighth-ranked Japanese shuttler Kodai Naraoka and book his place in the quarter-finals of the Japan Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 500 event in Kumamoto.
Srikanth, who had lost all four of his previous meetings against Naraoka, overturned that record with a 21-15, 18-21, 21-18 victory in a contest lasting an hour.
The Indian made a strong start to the match and recovered from a 12-14 deficit in the opening game by winning seven points in succession. Naraoka responded by taking the second game and establishing an early lead in the decider, but Srikanth remained composed, levelled at 7-7 and eventually pulled away to secure the win.
Srikanth will face another Japanese opponent, world No. 15 Koki Watanabe, in the quarter-finals.
Lakshya Sen also advanced to the last eight with a convincing straight-games win over China’s Dong Tian Yao. The eighth seed needed only 35 minutes to complete a 21-8, 21-14 victory and will next meet Japan’s Yushi Tanaka for a place in the semi-finals.
India’s challenge in the doubles competitions, however, ended in the round of 16.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were beaten 21-14, 21-14 by third seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan in the women’s doubles.
In men’s doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun went down by the same scoreline to Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in a 34-minute encounter.
With Srikanth and Sen through to the quarter-finals, India will now look to its singles players to carry the country’s challenge further in Kumamoto.
