Lakshya Sen completes comeback to beat Koki Watanabe and win Japan Masters
India's Lakshya Sen produced a comeback to defeat Koki Watanabe in the men's singles final and claim the Japan Masters in Kumamoto on Sunday, prevailing 13-21, 21-18, 21-14 in an hour and four minutes.
The victory followed Sen's recent Hylo Open title in Germany and arrives after a disappointing World Championships and Asian Games campaign; Sen entered the Kumamoto event as world No. 13 and has shown renewed form and mental resilience during the tournament amid a court that exhibited ample sideways drift on the far side.
Sen started the final slowly, allowing Watanabe to build a large advantage in the opening game and eventually losing it 13-21. He shifted momentum in the second game by deploying cross-court smashes, taking the game 21-18 to level the match at 1-1.
In the decider Sen produced a dominant display, building a crucial 11-7 lead and then extending that advantage to an overall nine points; he did not give Watanabe a chance to mount a comeback thereafter and closed out the final 21-14. The report noted Watanabe became tired and misjudged the court’s length and width, committing heavy mistakes as the match finished.
Sen reached the final after beating Indonesia's Alwi Farhan, the world No. 10, in a three-game semi-final on Saturday, winning 21-12, 15-21, 21-11. That victory was notable because Sen had lost both previous meetings with Farhan without taking a game, and he altered that head-to-head by relying on patient rally construction to counter Farhan's high-tempo, attacking approach.
The run to the title also affected Sen’s World Tour standing: he had entered the Japan Masters ranked 12th in the World Tour standings with 64,980 points, with only the top eight earning qualification for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou. The Japan Masters, a Super 500 event, awarded him 9,200 ranking points for the title.
With the Hong Kong Open and Syed Modi International still to come, the Japan Masters win strengthened Sen’s bid to move into the top eight of the World Tour standings and altered the qualification race for the BWF World Tour Finals.
