The curtain has officially fallen on India’s campaign at the Japan Open 2025. Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered straight-game defeats, while Anupama Upadhyaya lost in a three-game battle, in their Round-of-16 matches.
The day began with high hopes resting on the shoulders of India’s men’s singles and doubles contenders. However, despite the expectations, none managed to progress to the quarterfinals of this prestigious Super 750 tournament.
Satwik-Chirag Fall to Chinese Duo Again
In a highly anticipated men’s doubles clash, the former World No.1 Indian pair failed to break their jinx against the Chinese duo of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. The fifth seeded Chinese pair extended their head-to-head lead over the Indians to 7-2 with a 24-22, 21-14 win. This marked the fourth consecutive defeat for Sat-Chi against Liang/Wang.
In the first game, Satwik and Chirag fought hard and gave a tough fight to the Chinese duo, even holding an 18-14 lead but they couldn’t capitalise on their advantage, allowing the Chinese pair to make a comeback and win the game.
In the second game, Sat-Chi started well with a 10-6 lead, but Liang and Wang dominated the exchanges and exploited weaknesses in the Indian pair’s defence and smashes to seal the game 21-14.
Lakshya Sen’s Struggles Continue
World No. 18 Sen, who has been battling poor form throughout 2025, faced a tough challenge against home favourite and World No. 7 Kodai Naraoka. Despite showing some early fight in the first game, Lakshya ultimately succumbed to Naraoka’s relentless play, going down 19-21, 11-21 in just under an hour.
In the first game, Lakshya took an early lead at 6-1, but Naraoka made a strong comeback to level the score at 10-10. From there, it was a neck and neck battle until 17-17, when Naraoka gained momentum and closed out the game 21-19. In the second game, Lakshya Sen looked completely off-colour, and Naraoka dominated to win 21-11.
Sen’s disappointing performances this season have let down Indian badminton fans. After strong showings at the Paris Olympics and a title win at the Syed Modi S300 in 2024, he has struggled in 2025. His best result this season was a quarterfinal finish at the All England Open. Following that, he suffered four consecutive first-round exits. At the Japan Open, he finally broke the jinx by defeating China’s Zheng Xing Wang in the Round of 32.
Anupama failed to beat top seed
In the women’s singles, Anupama Upadhyaya put up a strong fight, winning the first game 21-13 against World No. 2 and second seed Wang Zhi Yi of China. However, the Chinese star bounced back in the next two games and completely outclassed Anupama to seal the match 13-21, 21-11, 21-12.
With Anupama’s loss, India’s campaign at the Japan Open 2025 officially came to an end.