PV Sindhu Advances, Lakshya Sen Bows Out in Japan Super 500

Double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 tournament on Wednesday, while Lakshya Sen suffered an opening-round exit.

Sindhu, ranked 20th in the world, faced Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, ranked 11th, in a one-sided first-round match. Sindhu dominated the match, winning 21-12, 21-18 in just 38 minutes. She will face Michelle Li of Canada in the next round.

Sen, on the other hand, squandered a one-game advantage to lose 22-20, 17-21, 16-21 to Malaysia's Leong Jun Hao in the men's singles round of 32. The Paris Olympics semifinalist held a slim lead in the decider before Hao took control. With the score reading 17-16, both shuttlers fought tooth and nail, but Hao won the last five points in a row to emerge victorious.

Sindhu started the match sluggishly, quickly falling behind 1-5. However, the Indian shuttler, who has been grappling with poor form, regained her composure with a series of clever drop shots, making a strong comeback to take a narrow 11-10 lead at the break.

Having gained momentum, Sindhu extended her advantage as the eighth-seeded Busanan committed back-to-back unforced errors. Sindhu then took control, winning seven consecutive points to seal the first game with a cross-court half smash.

She started the second game aggressively, racing to a 4-0 lead before the Thai shuttler registered her first point. Sindhu's dominance continued as she claimed 11 of the last 12 points, cruising to an easy victory.

With the win, Sindhu extended her commanding head-to-head record over the Thai shuttler to 19-1. With the exit of Sen, Sindhu is the lone Indian in contention. The women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had also made a first-round exit on Tuesday.

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