Japan Masters 2026: India's star shuttler Lakshya Sen won the 'Kumamoto Masters Japan 2026' title on Sunday. He defeated Koki Watanabe of Japan in a thrilling final match played at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium. This match lasted for three games. Sen made a brilliant comeback after losing the first game and won 13-21, 21-18, 21-14. This is his second title this season.
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It took one hour and four minutes for eighth seed Lakshya Sen to defeat local player Watanabe. Watanabe surprised everyone by defeating world number 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-finals. With the win, Goal's head-to-head record against Watanabe is now 5–3. The start of the final was not good for the Indian player. Watanabe used his backhand and accurate shots to run the court a lot, causing few mistakes from Target.
The Japanese took the lead early and dominated the first game, winning it 21-13. Lakshya made a strong comeback in the second game. Adopting an aggressive stance, he put Watanabe under pressure with his smashes and strong defense. The Indian players took a 9-2 lead and reached the interval with a score of 11-6. At the end of the game, Watanabe tried to make a comeback by winning five consecutive points and narrowing the gap to 16–19. However, Lakshya maintained its composure and won the game 21-18 to take the match to the decider.
In the third game, Lakshya completely took control of the game. Initially there was an exchange of points between the two players, but then Lakshya found its rhythm and reached the interval with a lead of 11-7. After this, the Indian player played brilliantly and scored six consecutive points and increased his lead to 17-7. Watanabe definitely reduced the difference in points, but Lakshya maintained his hold on the game and moved towards the title. He secured match point at 20-13 and then won the match 21-14 with a powerful smash. Lakshya made a spectacular comeback to win and celebrated by clenching his fists and roaring.
The Japan Masters title is Lakshya's second consecutive tournament win; Earlier this month, he had won the 'Hylo Open' in Germany. In that final, he defeated defending champion Jonathan Christie to win his first title of the 2026 season. 25-year-old Lakshya was also the runner-up in the 'All England Open' earlier this year. Their latest win has given a big boost to their hopes of qualifying for the season-ending 'BWF World Tour Finals'.
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Lakshya's initial journey in Kumamoto was quite easy. He defeated Chi Yu Zhen, Dong Tianyao and Yushi Tanaka in straight games, and then defeated sixth seed Alvi Farhan in the semi-finals. After reaching the semi-finals last year, this time Lakshya has gone one step further and achieved success in Japan. Having won two titles in a row, the Indian has found his rhythm at this crucial stage of the season.