Lakshya Sen, Satwik-Chirag exit Japan Open in second round after inconsistent play

Indian shuttlers continued to falter at the Japan Open with Lakshya Sen and the star men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowing out in the second round of the Super 750 badminton tournament on Thursday.

World No. 18 Lakshya’s inconsistent run resulted in a 19-21, 11-21 loss to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the men’s singles that lasted close to an hour. The 23-year-old, who had looked promising in the opener with a commanding 21-11, 21-18 win over China’s Wang Zheng Xing, failed to carry the momentum forward.

Satwik-Chirag lose to former world No.1 pair

In the men’s doubles, Satwik and Chirag were handed a 22-24, 14-21 defeat by the fifth-seeded Chinese combine of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in a battle between former world No. 1 pairs.

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With this win, Paris Olympics silver medallists Wei Keng and Wang Chang extended their head-to-head lead over the Indians to 7-2.

After a slow start, the Indian pair did well to take an 18-14 lead but couldn’t hold on to the momentum as their Chinese counterparts sealed a thrilling first game.

The world number five Chinese duo continue in the same vein in the second game as Satwik and Chirag struggled with their smashes and defence to concede their fourth defeat in a row to Wei Ken and Chang.