Indian pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand was knocked out in the opening round of Kumamoto Masters Japan with a defeat in straight games to their opponents from Chinese Taipei, here on Tuesday. The world No 20 Indian pair was brushed aside 16-21, 16-21 by Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Yin-Hui, ranked 24, in just 36 minutes in their women’s doubles round 32 of clash of the Super 500 tournament. This is the first time Yin-Hui and Yin-Hui have won against the Indian duo, who still lead the head-to-head contests 2-1.
The two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and world championship medallist Lakshya Sen are the two other Indians competing in the tournament and will begin their campaign on Wednesday.
V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen last competed on the BWF World Tour at the Denmark Open in the second week of October.
PV Sindhu, 19th in the latest badminton rankings for the women’s singles, lost to Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open after defeating the People’s Republic of China’s then-world No. 7 Han Yue in the second round.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist and a former world champion, reached the final of the Malaysia Masters BWF Super 500 tournament in May. The Indian badminton player is still searching for her first title on the BWF World Tour since her victory at the Singapore Open in July 2022.
Lakshya Sen, who finished one win short of an Olympic medal at Paris 2024, is India’s lone entry in men’s singles at the Kumamoto Masters Japan. The world No. 17 men’s singles shuttler competed at the Arctic Open and the Denmark Open but is yet to win a match in the new Olympic cycle.
With ANI Inputs
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
