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Indian shuttlers brought mixed results in the Japan Open on Wednesday as Kidambi Srikanth defeated Lee Zii Jia in straight games 22-20, 23-21 to enter in the prequarterfinals, while ace shuttler Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal suffered early exit from the competition. Sen was outplayed by Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in a high-voltage clash, while Saina Nehwal went down in straight sets to Akane Yamaguchi, 21-9 and 21-17.
Speaking of Kidambi Srikanth, the India shuttler fought tough battle to emerge victorious as he won two straight games against his Malaysian counterpart.
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal and Lakshya Sen could not deliver up to the expectations as they failed to progress into the next round. Lakshya Sen played a close fight with Nishimoto as the former won the first game by 21-18, but the shuttler from Japan completely outplayed the Indian player in next two games. Sen suffered massive defeat in the second game as he lost it by 14-21, followed by 13-21 loss in the final game.
Saina Nehwal's suffered a similar fate as Akane Yamaguchi dominated the contest. Yamaguchi stunned her opponent in the first game as she clinched it by 21-9. Although, Saina bounced back in the second game and did score well but her opponent continued her red-hot form and shown the exit door to Indian shuttler by defeating her 21-17 in the third game.
Even the men's double pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost their men's doubles match to Choi Gol Gyu and Kim Won Ho. Despite winning the first game, the Indian pair lost the next two games to be knocked out of the tournament.