Japan Open 2022: Kidambi Srikanth defeats World No.4 Lee Zii Jia

Kidambi Srikanth showed his way out of the round of 32 by defeating fifth seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in straight games in the Japan Open 2022 on Wednesday.

Also read: BWF World Rankings: Kidambi Srikanth in top 10 from India

Former number one and Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medalist knocked out world no.4 Lee 22-20, 23-21 in men's singles. The match lasted for only 37 minutes. It was Srikanth's first win against the Malaysian in four meetings.

On the other hand, HS Prannoy also managed to reach the next round on Tuesday. He reached the round of 16 after Hong Kong player Ng Ka Long Angus retired.

Although, the second day of the Japan Open 2022 has started with a big upset for India. Young star player Lakshya Sen crashed out of the tournament after losing in the second round itself. Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya lost to local player Kenta Nishimoto in the second round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

Also read: Badminton World Rankings: Lakshya Sen moves up to 11, Srikanth at 12

The 21-year-old went down 21-18, 14-21, 13-21 in a three-game match to world number 21 Nishimoto in the men's singles. The match lasted for one hour and six minutes. This is his first defeat in two matches at the hands of a Japanese player.

The fast-rising men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, who reached the World Championships quarter-finals at No. 26 in the world, also lost 21-19, 21-23, 15-21 against Korea's Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho. The mixed doubles pair of Juhi Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad lost 11-21, 10-21 to top seeds Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong of China in just 23 minutes.