Kumamoto, 12 November: Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth outplayed World No. 8 and home favourite Kodai Naraoka in a three-game thriller, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Japan Masters, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.
Joining Srikanth in the last eight is newly crowned Hylo Open champion Lakshya Sen, who registered a comfortable win over his Chinese opponent.
Despite entering the match with a 0-4 head-to-head record against Naraoka, Srikanth showed great composure to take the opening game 21-15, winning seven consecutive points after trailing 12-14.
The Japanese shuttler fought back strongly to force a decider and held the early advantage in the last game. However, Srikanth kept his nerve, drew level at 7-7 and regained control to close out the match 21-18 in 60 minutes.
This win was not Srikanth’s only big one of the season. He beat Paris 2024 bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia en route to a runner-up finish at the US Open in June and stunned then world No. 9 Victor Lai of Canada to reach the China Masters Super 750 quarter-finals in September.
Srikanth will next face another Japanese opponent, World No. 15 Koki Watanabe, in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, eighth seed Lakshya Sen continued his strong run with a dominant 21-8, 21-14 victory over China’s Dong Tian Yao in 35 minutes. He will take on Japan’s Yushi Tanaka for a place in the semi-finals.
