Japan Open 2025: Sindhu suffers fifth first-round exit; Lakshya, Satwik-Chirag progress

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu’s difficult season continued with yet another early exit—this time at the Japan Open 2025 Super 750 tournament. The former world champion bowed out in the first round after a straight-game defeat to South Korea’s Sim Yu Jin, extending her troubling run of form.

The 30-year-old Sindhu looked out of rhythm and struggled with her length and shot selection throughout the contest. She went down 15-21, 14-21 in just over half an hour, suffering her fifth first-round exit of the year. Although she showed some fight in the opening game, Sim was steady and sharp, securing her first career win over the Indian star.

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In the second game, Sindhu trailed early at 1-6 but managed to level the score at 11-all. However, the Korean quickly pulled away again, closing out the match with confidence.

Young Unnati Hooda also met a similar fate, going down in straight games to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 8-21, 12-21 in her women’s singles opening-round contest.

In contrast, India had a bright start elsewhere on Day 1, with Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advancing comfortably to the second round.

World No. 18 Lakshya produced one of his best performances of the season to defeat China’s Wang Zheng Xing 21-11, 21-18. The 23-year-old raced to an 11-2 lead in the opening game and never looked back. While Wang put up more resistance in the second, Lakshya held his nerve to complete a straight-game win.

He now faces a challenging round-of-16 clash against seventh seed and home favourite Kodai Naraoka.

Meanwhile, the former world No. 1 men’s doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag overcame a slow start to beat Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Kim Dong Ju 21-18, 21-10 in 42 minutes.

After finding their rhythm midway through the match, the World No. 15 Indian pair asserted their dominance and controlled the second game with their trademark aggressive style, underlining their intent to go deep in the tournament.