The Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium witnessed a mixed bag of results for Indian shuttlers in the Round of 32 at the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2025. Experienced men’s singles shuttlers Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy stormed into the next round while Tharun Mannepalli, Ayush Shetty, and Kiran George ended their campaigns in the opening round on Wednesday.
Returning to court after two months, HS Prannoy produced an impressive performance, outclassing Malaysia’s World No. 22 Leong Jun Hao 16-21, 21-13, 23-21 in a thrilling battle. The 33-year-old Indian got injured in the opening round of the Korea Open in September and was forced to retire.
After losing the first game, Prannoy came back strong in the second. Initially it was neck to neck with both players exchanging until 8-8, following which the Indian took control with sharp placements and some heavy smashes, forcing the Malaysian for the decider.
In the final game, Prannoy had a slow start, trailing 1-5, and was one point behind at the mid-game break. He went on to stage a brilliant comeback to lead 19-15 before the Malaysian fought back to level the scoreline 19-19. Prannoy held his nerve to clinch the nail-biting thriller and moved into the Round of 16.
Facing home favourite Koki Watanabe, seventh seed Lakshya Sen had a smooth sailing, defeating the Japanese in straight games, winning 21-12, 21-16.
The first game saw a flying start from Sen as he raced to a 7-0 lead and the game ran in Sen’s favour and he won 21-12.
In the second game, Watanabe capitalised on Sen’s error of judgments and took 7-1 lead. From there, the Indian fought back with sharp placements and good net game, winning seven consecutive points, before taking an 11-8 lead at the interval. After the break, the game followed a similar pattern to the first with Sen maintaining control and sealing the match in dominant fashion.
Up next, Sen will face Singapore’s Jason Teh in the pre-quarterfinals while Prannoy takes on Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke in the Round of 16.
Ayush Shetty, who recently defeated Kodai Naraoka in the Hong Kong Open – registering one of his career’s best wins – went down against Naraoka at his home venue, losing 16-21, 11-21 in straight games. Kiran George lost to Malaysia’s Jing Hong Kok 20-22, 10-21, while Tharun Mannepalli went down to Korea’s Jeon Hyeok Jin 9-21, 19-21.
In mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde lost a close contest against USA’s Presley Smith and Jennie Gai 21-12, 19-21, 22-20.
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