Japan Open Highlights: Lakshya Sen defeated Japan’s Koki Watanabe 21-15, 21-19 to march into the semifinal of the Japan Open 2023 on Friday, 28th July 2023. Meanwhile, Men’s Doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out from the tournament. They suffered a 15-21, 25-23, 16-21 loss against unseeded Chinese Taipei duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin. HS Prannoy too gave a good fight against World No. Viktor Axelsen but ended up losing the contest 21-19, 18-21, 8-21 to crash out of the tournament.
Also Read: Japan Open Highlights: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Satwik-Chirag enter quarterfinal
Men’s Singles
Lakshya Sen BEAT Koki Watanabe – 21-15, 21-19
HS Prannoy LOST TO Viktor Axelsen – 21-19, 18-21, 8-21
Men’s Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty LOST TO Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin – 15-21, 25-23, 16-21
Men’s Singles
Lakshya Sen vs Koki Watanabe
Sen took an early lead in the contest and went on to enter the interval with a four-point advantage. He did not have any problem in the post-interval period as he went on to maintain the lead and grabbed the first game.
Sen went on to take an early lead in the second game as well. He was ahead with the score at 3-2. But with three-successive points, Watanabe raced ahead for the first time in the match. The momentum swung in favour of the Japanese, who entered the interval with a 11-6 lead.
He came back after the interval and began with three successive points extending his lead to 14-6. Just when it looked like the game was slipping away from Lakshya, he made a terrific turnaround.
He used his drop shots top good effect and managed to pick up four successive points, reducing his deficit to 13-16. Soon a net-error from Watanabe helped level the scores 17-17 and Lakshya managed to take the lead with a cross-court smash immediately.
However, the Indian scripted a turnaround, drawing his opponent to the net and using the drop shots to good effect. He soon turned the tables at 18-17 with a cross court smash. Watanabe however took back the lead at 19-18.
With two returns on his opponent’s backhand, Sen gained one-match point before producing another precise return at the back-line and then threw his racquet in celebration.
HS Prannoy vs Viktor Axelsen
India’s ace shuttler HS Prannoy lost his quarter-final clash to World No. 1 shuttler Viktor Axelsen in the ongoing Japan Open. Prannoy won the first game in a closely fought encounter by 21-19. But the Danish shuttler bounced back to win the final two games and seal his place in the semi-finals. Prannoy showed some fight during the second game to book his place in the semi-final. He initially led the second game but Axelsen came back to keep the contest alive by 21-18.
The final game was pure domination from the World No. 1 as he cruised through the entire game, hardly giving the Indian shuttler a chance to make a comeback. HS Prannoy failed to reach double digits as Axelsen won the game by 21-8.
Men’s Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty vs Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty failed to reach their third successive semifinal in the tour. They failed to bring forth their A-game and lost to the unseeded Chinese Taipei pair Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin.
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