Japan Open 2026: Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty & Unnati Hooda knocked out on Day 2
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Japan Open 2026: Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty & Unnati Hooda knocked out on Day 2")
Lakshya Sen Photograph: (PTI)
It was a disappointing day for India at the Japan Open 2026 as Ayush Shetty, Unnati Hooda and Lakshya Sen were all knocked out of the tournament.
India suffered a disappointing day at the Japan Open 2026 as Ayush Shetty, Unnati Hooda and Lakshya Sen were all knocked out in the opening round in Tokyo on Wednesday (Jul 15). Ayush Shetty put up a strong fight against second seed and former world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn but lost 19-21, 25-23, 15-21 in a hard-fought men’s singles match that lasted 82 minutes.
World No. 24 Unnati Hooda also bowed out after suffering a 21-16, 16-21, 15-21 defeat to Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Hsun. It was her second straight loss against the same opponent.
Lakshya Sen, the former All England Championships runner-up, was beaten 16-21, 14-21 by Japan’s Koki Watanabe in just 38 minutes. With the win, Watanabe improved his head-to-head record against the Indian to 4-3.
The three first-round exits made it a disappointing day for India, especially with the country set to host the BWF World Championships in New Delhi next month for the first time in 17 years.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto are now India’s only players left in the USD 950,000 tournament.
Sindhu will take on China’s fifth seed Han Yue in the second round, while Dhruv and Tanisha will face top seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping on Thursday.
Trending Stories
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
The 21-year-old, Ayush, entered the match with confidence after defeating Kunlavut during his run to the Asia Championships final earlier this year. However, the Thai star, a three-time world junior champion, proved too strong this time.
Ayush made a good start and led 7-4 in the opening game, but Kunlavut fought back to take a 12-9 lead. The Indian reduced the gap to 13-12, but the Thai moved ahead 19-16.
Ayush saved three points in a row to make it close before Kunlavut wrapped up the first game.
The second game was equally competitive. Kunlavut led early, but Ayush went into the mid-game break with a narrow 11-10 advantage. Later, the Thai earned four match points, but Ayush showed great determination and won a tense rally to level the match.
In the deciding game, however, Ayush could not keep up the momentum. Kunlavut quickly took control with an 8-5 lead, extended it to 14-8 and comfortably sealed the match to reach the second round.
With inputs from agencies
