Japan Masters 2024: PV Sindhu makes winning start, Lakshya Sen exits early

Japan Masters 2024: PV Sindhu made a winning start to her campaign, outclassing eighth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in straight games in the women's singles first round. However, Lakshya Sen lost in the opening round of men's singles.

In Short

• PV Sindhu decimated 8th seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in straight games
• Sindhu needed less than an hour for the dominant win the opening round
• Lakshya Sen lost in a hard-fought three-game battle to unseeded Leong Jun Hao

Ace shuttler PV Sindhu began her campaign in the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024 with a resounding win in the women's singles competition. The two-time Olympic medallist thrashed eighth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand 21-12, 21-8 n just 38 minutes in the Round of 32 on Wednesday, November 13.

Sindhu started on the back foot, trailing 5-7 in the opening game. However, the Indian shuttler bounced back to 11-9 up at the break. Sindhu did not look back from there as she won 11 of the next 13 points played.

Sindhu carried confidence into the second game. She never allowed Busanan to take the lead in the second game, racing to an 11-7 lead and then winning the next 11 out of 12 points played.

The win in the opening round of the Super 500 tournament will boost Sindhu's confidence. Since her early exit in the Paris Olympics, Sindhu competed in the Arctic Open in which she was ousted in the opening round. However, she reached the quarter-final of Denmark Open Super 750 in October.

The Indian shuttler, who is not in the fray to make it to the tour finals, will be hoping to finish the season on a strong note. Only recently, SIndhu had spoken about her ambitions to play in the Los Angeles Olympics, highlighting her motivation and desire.

LAKSHYA SEN EXITS

Earlier on Tuesday, India's women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost in the opening round.

On the other hand, there was bad news for India in the men's singles section. Lakshya Sen lost to unseeded Leong Jun Hao of Japan in the first round. It was a heartbreaking defeat for the young shuttler as he won the opening game before losing steam in the next two. Lakshya lost 22-20, 17-21, 16-21 in a match that lasted an hour and 14 minutes.

Lakshya's form late in the season has been a cause for concern. Since losing the Olympics bronze medal match to Lee Zii Jia, Lakshya exited the Arctic Open in the second round and the Denmark Open in the first round.