Badminton
Japan Open 2025: Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya advance to second round; Sindhu exits
PV Sindhu faced another setback, exiting in the first round for the fifth time in 2025.
Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of Japan Open 2025. (Photo credits: JioHotstar)
Top Indian shuttlers had mixed results on their return to the BWF World Tour as Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty registered a win, while PV Sindhu endured yet another first-round exit at the 2025 Japan Open Super 750 on Wednesday.
India started the day strongly with Sen securing a 21-11, 21-18 straight games victory over China's Zheng Xing Wan. This was followed by a clinical 21-18, 21-10 win for Satwik and Chirag in men's doubles.
However, the double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu could not continue the winning momentum, facing her fifth first-round exit of the year, losing 15-21, 14-21 in straight games to Sim Yu Jin of South Korea.
This was the fourth meeting between the two players, and for the first time, the South Korean shuttler got the better of PV Sindhu.
Meanwhile, in an all-Indian women's singles match, Anupama Upadhyaya got the better of her younger compatriot Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj in a tense three-game encounter, 21-15, 18-21, 21-18.
In men's singles, Indian ace Lakshya Sen snapped his five-match losing streak with a convincing first-round victory over a lower-ranked Chinese shuttler, advancing to pre-quarterfinals for just the third time in 2025.
He will now take on the home favourite Kodai Naroka, who holds a 4-2 head-to-head advantage, in the second round match on Thursday.
On the other hand, the former world no.1 pair of Satwik and Chirag continued their form to advance to the second round with a convincing win against a strong South Korean pair of Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju.
The Koreans started positively and had a solid lead in the first mid-game break, but then the Indian duo shifted the momentum and came from behind to clinch the opening game and close out the match in straight games.
Other Results:
MD: Harihan-Ruban (IND) lost (15-21, 9-21) to Kim-Seo (KOR)
WD: Selvam-Singhi (IND) lost (6-21, 5-21) to Lui-Tsang (HKG)
WS: Unnati Hooda (IND) lost (8-21, 12-21) to Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA)
