Indian Badminton Stars Shine at Kumamoto Masters 2026

Successful Start for Indian Women's Doubles Team

In Kumamoto, Japan, on November 10, the Indian women's doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand kicked off their journey at the Kumamoto Masters 2026 badminton tournament with a victory. They triumphed over the higher-ranked Japanese team of Hinata Suzuki and Nao Yamakita, securing a score of 21-17, 21-14 in just 42 minutes at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, according to reports from a sports media outlet.

This match marked their first encounter with the 13th ranked pair, who had previously won the Canada Open and were runners-up at the Denmark Open Super 750 last month.

Next Challenge for Treesa and Gayatri

The Indian pair is set to face the third-seeded and world number five duo of Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi from Japan in the round of 16. Their head-to-head record stands at 1-1, with Treesa and Gayatri having won their last match against them 21-16, 21-12 during the round of 16 at the BWF World Championships held in New Delhi earlier this year.

Men's Doubles Progress

In the men's doubles category, the team of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also advanced to the pre-quarters after their opponents, third seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik from Malaysia, had to retire due to injury while trailing 11-6 in the first game.

Earlier in the mixed doubles qualifiers, Dhruv Kapila and Radhika Sharma faced elimination after losing to the USA's Chen Zhi Yi and Francesca Corbett with scores of 21-16, 21-15.

Upcoming Matches and Withdrawals

Lakshya Sen is scheduled to begin his campaign on Wednesday. Notably, India's men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, along with women's singles player Malvika Bansod, have withdrawn from the tournament despite being initially listed to compete.

Lakshya recently climbed eight spots to reach the 10th position in the race for the finals after winning the Hylo Open earlier this month. The Commonwealth Games champion aims to break into the top eight, which would qualify him for the BWF World Tour Finals, set to take place from December 9 to 13 in China.

Lakshya's Previous Achievements

Last year, Lakshya reached the semifinals of this event, where he lost to local favorite Kenta Nishimoto in a three-game match. He also finished as the runner-up in the All England Open this year.

The world number six duo of Satwik and Chirag will lead the men's doubles challenge, having secured two BWF Super 750 titles this season, including the Singapore Open in May and the China Masters in September. They also finished as runners-up in the Thailand Open.

Sindhu's Qualification for BWF Tour Finals

Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu has qualified for the season-ending BWF Tour Finals following a series of impressive performances on the BWF World Tour. She has climbed to the sixth position in the women's singles rankings, her highest since December 2022, after winning the Hylo Open title.

Sindhu secured her second title of the season by defeating Denmark's Line Kjaersfeldt with a score of 21-12, 21-14 in the women's singles final at the Hylo Open. This victory came just a week after she finished as the runner-up at the French Open, where she lost to world number one An Se Young.

Earlier this year, she also won the Japan Open, making the Hylo Open her second title on the BWF World Tour this season. Additionally, she reached the finals of the French Open and the semifinals of both the Malaysia Open and the Australian Open.