Lakshya Sen leads a seven-event Indian challenge at the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500, which begins on Tuesday at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium. The tournament features a total prize purse of USD 500,000 and runs through November 15.
Sen enters the tournament fresh from winning the Hylo Open Super 500, where he defeated Indonesia player Jonatan Christie in straight games in the final. The eighth-seeded player is targeting a top-eight finish in the BWF World Tour rankings to secure qualification for the season-ending World Tour Finals.
India's contingent has been significantly impacted by a wave of withdrawals across multiple categories. In the men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth joins Sen in the main draw, while Ayush Shetty has withdrawn from the competition.
The women's singles division features no Indian representatives following the late withdrawal of Malvika Bansod. P.V. Sindhu had earlier opted out of the tournament after capturing the women's singles title at the Hylo Open in Saarbruecken.
In the men's doubles, fifth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have pulled out of the event. Their withdrawal leaves M.R. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan as the sole Indian representatives in the men's doubles main draw.
The women's doubles challenge will be spearheaded by the pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. Meanwhile, the mixed doubles main draw features two Indian pairs in Hariharan Amsakarunan with Tanisha Crasto, and Dhruv Rawat with Maneesha K.
Additional representation comes in the qualifying rounds, where the newly formed mixed doubles partnership of Dhruv Kapila and Radhika Sharma takes to the court. Tournament organizers noted that further changes to the entry list remain possible ahead of the opening matches.
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