Lakshya Sen beats Koki Watanabe to win Kumamoto Masters Japan Open
Lakshya Sen defeated Koki Watanabe 13-21, 21-18, 21-14 in the final of the Kumamoto Masters in Kumamoto, Japan, on Sunday, November 15, 2026, to claim the title; the match lasted one hour and four minutes.
The victory was Sen’s second consecutive title on the BWF Tour after his Hylo Open triumph and comes while he is ranked World No. 13. Before the Kumamoto event he was 12th in the Race to Finals standings with 64,980 points and needed to move into the top eight to qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals in Hangzhou.
Sen entered the final holding a 3-2 edge in his career head-to-head with Watanabe, although the Japanese had won their last two encounters. Watanabe began the match aggressively, opening 3-0 and repeatedly landing straight down-the-line smashes on Sen’s forehand to establish a 6-1 lead and then a 5-10 advantage after a judgment error and a wide return.
Watanabe maintained control to take a five-point lead into the break, and after the restart he extended his margin to 15-11. He then built a 18-12 advantage and produced eight game points, of which Sen saved one before going wide to concede the opening game 21-13.
A change of sides shifted momentum in the second game as Sen surged to a 5-0 lead by taking control at the net, capitalising on a loose net shot and an opponent’s net error. Sen’s cross-court smash and sustained racquet speed helped him carry a 15-10 lead, and Watanabe’s errors left Sen three points from forcing a decider.
Watanabe mounted a late revival in the second, fighting back from 10-19 to 17-19, but Sen converted on his third game point after sending one shot long and then landing a thunderous, precise smash to take the game 21-18. The decider began with a full-stretch dive and defensive block from Sen that gave him an early 2-1 advantage and produced tighter rallies.
In the final game Sen moved from 3-3 to 9-6 and then to a four-point interval cushion, extended that advantage to 13-7 with two smashes and later to 16-7 with successive winners. Watanabe narrowed the gap from 7-17 to 13-19, but Sen produced two perfect returns to create seven match points and sealed victory on the second with a cross-court winner; he finished the tournament as the eighth seed and Watanabe was the home favourite.
The Kumamoto Masters is a Super 500 event and the title earned Sen 9,200 Race to Finals points; those points will lift him to sixth place with 74,180 when the standings are updated on Tuesday, and the Hong Kong Open (November 17-22) remains the final qualifying event for the World Tour Finals.
