Kumamoto (Japan): India’s star badminton players PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will try to return to form by leading the Indian challenge in the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 tournament. Both these players have struggled to find their best form after a disappointing performance in the Paris Olympics. Sindhu reached the quarter-finals in the Denmark Open Super 750 but Lakshya Sen was eliminated early in both the Arctic Open Super 500 and the Denmark Open. Despite these setbacks, Sindhu is confident that working together with her new coach Anup Sridhar and Korean veteran Lee Seun Il, she will achieve better results.
Sindhu will face eighth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the first round of the Japan Open. Sindhu said, “I am in a good state physically and mentally. We have worked on various aspects of the game. I hope that under the guidance of new coaches, I will be able to perform well in Japan and China.”
Lakshya Sen will start his campaign against Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao. After winning this match, his next match may be against eighth seed Anthony Ginting of Indonesia. Indian women’s doubles pair of Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will also challenge in this tournament. In the first round, they will face Chinese Taipei’s Su Yinhui and Lin Zhih Yun.
