Tokyo: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu suffered another early exit, losing in the first round of the Japan Open on Wednesday, while Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced comfortably to the second round.
The 30-year-old Sindhu, a former world champion, fell 15-21, 14-21 to Korea’s Sim Yu Jin in the Super 750 event — her fifth first-round loss of the year. She appeared rusty and struggled with length judgment, managing a brief comeback in the first game before Sim regained control. In the second game, Sindhu trailed 1-6 early and, despite levelling the score at 11-all, couldn’t keep pace as Sim surged ahead to claim her first-ever win over the Indian.
In contrast, Satwik and Chirag, the world No. 15 pair, cruised past Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Kim Dong Ju 21-18, 21-10 in just 42 minutes. After a closely contested start, the Indians found their rhythm and dominated the second game with clinical play.
Lakshya Sen, who has endured a rough season with multiple first-round exits, looked in fine touch as he outplayed China’s Wang Zheng Xing 21-11, 21-18. The world No. 18 raced to an 11-2 lead in the opener and stayed composed in the second, maintaining his early momentum to seal the win in straight games.
Lakshya will next take on Japan’s seventh seed and home favourite Kodai Naraoka in the round of 16.
