The disappointing performance of Indian players at the Japan Open continued on Thursday. Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were knocked out of this Super 750 badminton tournament after losing in the second round.
Sports News: Disappointing news has emerged for Indian badminton fans at the Japan Open Badminton 2025. After PV Sindhu's exit, Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty have also been knocked out of the tournament. In the matches played on Thursday, both Indian hopes faced defeat and were eliminated from this prestigious Super 750 tournament.
Lakshya Sen's Rhythm Broken, Loses in Second Round
Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen suffered a 19-21, 11-21 defeat against Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the second round of the men's singles. The match lasted for almost an hour, in which Lakshya looked b initially but gradually the opponent completely strengthened his grip.
23-year-old Lakshya Sen had performed brilliantly in his first match, defeating China's Wang Zheng Xing in straight sets 21-11, 21-18, but he could not maintain this momentum in the next match. In the second round, the Japanese player shattered both his attack and defense, showing him the way out of the tournament.
Satwik-Chirag Pair Stumbles Again
The pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, considered India's biggest hope in men's doubles, also suffered a defeat. The Indian pair was defeated 22-24, 14-21 by the fifth-seeded pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China. This match lasted only 44 minutes, and with this defeat, the Satwik-Chirag pair has now suffered their fourth consecutive loss against this Chinese pair.
In the first game, the Indian pair had a slow start but gained momentum in the middle, taking an 18-14 lead. However, they could not maintain their rhythm in the closing moments, and the Chinese pair made a brilliant comeback to win the game.
In the second game, the Indian pair looked completely struggling, where both their attack and defense looked weak. Taking advantage of this, the Chinese pair registered an easy victory.
A Disappointing Tournament for India
With this win, Paris Olympic silver medalists Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang have improved their record against Satwik-Chirag to 7-2. This statistic shows that the Indian pair consistently plays under pressure against the Chinese and that it has not been easy to win against them so far. Earlier, India's star player PV Sindhu had also been eliminated from the tournament.
Thus, this year's Japan Open Badminton 2025 has proved to be very disappointing for India. While star players like Lakshya Sen and Sindhu were eliminated early, the defeat of Satwik-Chirag in doubles has also extinguished India's final hopes.
