Srikanth beats Naraoka; Lakshya Sen downs Dong to reach Kumamoto Masters quarterfinals

Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen progressed to the men's singles quarterfinals at the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 in Kumamoto, Japan on Thursday after separate victories; Srikanth defeated Kodai Naraoka and Lakshya overcame Dong Tian Yao. The wins came in the round of 16 at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.

Former world No.1 Srikanth, a 2021 world championships silver medallist, upset fifth seed and world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka 21-15, 11-21, 21-18 to reach the last eight. Eighth-seeded Lakshya, who won the Hylo Open in Germany, beat Dong Tian Yao 21-8, 21-14 to advance; the world No. 13 Lakshya is currently 10th in the BWF World Tour rankings and needs to move into the top eight to qualify for the season-ending tournament in China.

Naraoka established an early 8-4 advantage in the opening game before Srikanth levelled at 9-9 and took a narrow lead by the interval. The Japanese edged to 14-12, then Srikanth produced a run of seven consecutive points to surge to 19-14 and close out the first game.

After the change of sides Naraoka recovered to keep Srikanth behind and force a decider by taking the second game 21-11. In the third, the score was level at 7-7 when Srikanth pulled clear to lead 11-7 at the interval; Naraoka narrowed the gap to 18-16 late, but Srikanth completed the match.

The world No. 31 Indian combined his solid defence with attacking flair to outplay Naraoka, who is widely regarded as one of the most tenacious retrievers in world badminton. It was Srikanth's first win in five meetings against the two-time World Championships silver medallist.

Srikanth has shown form this season, defeating several top players, including Paris Olympic bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia en route to the US Open final, and later beating world No. 9 Victor Lai of Canada to reach the China Masters Super 750 quarter-finals in September. The women's doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were beaten 21-14, 21-14 by third seeds Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan in the round of 16.

Srikanth will meet local Koki Watanabe, the world No. 15, in the quarterfinals, while Lakshya is slated to face Japan's Yushi Tanaka next at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium; Lakshya's current position in the BWF World Tour standings leaves him needing a move into the top eight to secure qualification for the season-ending tournament in China.