Japan Open: Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya Sen progress to round of 16

Tokyo [Japan], July 16 (ANI): India's top men's singles and doubles contenders advanced to the Round-of-16 at the Japan Open 2025, with Lakshya Sen and the duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty notching straight-game victories in their opening matches on Wednesday.
Sen produced a composed performance to defeat China's Wang Zheng Xing 21-11, 21-18, setting up a second-round clash with Japanese star and home favourite Kodai Naraoka, as per a press release from BAI Media.
In men's doubles, Satwik and Chirag made a strong start to their campaign, easing past South Korea's Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju 21-18, 21-10 to move into the last 16.
Elsewhere, PV Sindhu and Unnati Hooda bowed out in the opening round of the women's singles draw.
Playing her first match since the Indonesia Open in early June, Sindhu, 16th in the badminton rankings, went down 21-15, 21-14 to the world No. 14 South Korean shuttler in 38 minutes. It was her first defeat to Sim Yu Jin in four meetings.
Sindhu made a sluggish start and trailed 9-3 in the opening game. The Indian badminton player fought back to make it 13-12, only for Sim Yu Jin to mount a late surge before taking the lead in the match.
The second game followed a similar script with Sim Yu Jin racing to a 6-1 lead. Sindhu clawed her way back to level at 7-7 and later 11-11, but failed to see it through.
It marks yet another early exit for Sindhu in what has been a challenging 2025 BWF World Tour season. Her best finish this year remains a quarter-final appearance at the India Open in January, which was followed by four first-round exits and two round of 16 finishes.
On the other hand, Unnati Hooda lost to Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-8, 21-12. Anupama Upadhyaya and Rakshitha Ramraj will face each other in an all-Indian affair.
Men's doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan-Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi and women's doubles duo Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singhi will also be in the fray.
Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda were knocked out of women's doubles after losing to the Japanese pair of Kokona Ishikawa and Maiko Kawazoe 21-13, 21-7 on Tuesday. (ANI)