Lakshya Sen and the top men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were eliminated in the second round of the Super 750 badminton tournament in Tokyo on Thursday, demonstrating the persistent shortcomings of Indian shuttlers at the Japan Open.
Returning to Sen, he had defeated Wang Zheng Xing of China with command in the first round, but he was unable to duplicate that performance in the round of 16. In the nearly hour-long match, the world number 18 Indian lost to Kodai Naraoka of Japan 19-21, 11-21.
In the opening match, the 23-year-old defeated Wang Zheng Xing of China with decisive scores of 21-11, 21-18, but he was unable to maintain the pace.
In the men’s doubles, the fifth-seeded Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang defeated Satwik and Chirag 22-24, 14-21 in a match featuring previous world No. 1 pairs.
Keng and Chang, who had previously won a silver medal in the Olympics in Paris, improved their head-to-head record against Satwik and Chirag to 7-2 with their victory.
Following a sluggish start, the Indian duo performed admirably to grab an 18–14 lead, but they were unable to maintain the momentum as their Chinese opponents won an exciting opening match.
In the second game, Satwik and Chirag, the fifth-ranked Chinese team in the world, continued their winning ways as they battled with their smashes and defense, giving Wei Ken and Chang their fourth straight loss.
