Lakshya Sen makes history, becomes first Indian to storm into Kumamoto Masters final

India’s star shuttler Lakshya Sen made history on Saturday (Nov 14) by becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the final of the Kumamoto Masters Japan since the tournament began in 2023. The Indian continued his impressive run on the international circuit by defeating Indonesia’s sixth seed Alwi Farhan in the semi-finals.

Fresh from winning the HYLO Open title, Sen secured a 21-12, 15-21, 21-11 victory in a 70-minute contest to book his place in the final.

Earlier, Sen started well and took the opening game comfortably. However, Farhan fought back to win the second game and force a decider. The Indian raised his level in the final game, taking control of the match to seal a memorable win.

The victory also gave Sen his first win over Farhan on the international level, improving his head-to-head record to 1-2. It is also his third final appearance in the BWF World Tour this season.

Sen will now face either Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn or Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the final.

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The eighth seed, currently ranked 12th in the BWF World Tour standings with 64,980 points is aiming to break into the top eight and qualify for the season-ending event.

A title win at the Super 500 tournament will earn him 9,200 points, while a runner-up finish will add 7,800 points. Both results could help him move into the top eight.

However, the remaining Hong Kong Open Super 500 and Syed Modi International Super 300 tournaments could still affect the standings.

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Speaking after his win, Sen said: “It feels very good to play here. I was looking to better the result from last time and happy with the way I played today and now it’s time to recover again and get ready for a very tough match tomorrow.”

He also explained the importance of building an early lead in the decider.

“It was important that I kept the lead in the third game from the beginning and once it was 11-6, the next three points were very important after changing sides.”