Teresa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand of India were eliminated in the first round of the Kumamoto Masters Japan on Tuesday, losing in straight games to their Chinese Taipei opponents. The world’s No. 20 Indian duo was defeated 16-21, 16-21 by Shih Yin-Hui and Tang Yin-Hui, ranked 24, in just 36 minutes in the women’s doubles round 32 of the Super 500 competition. This is the very first-time Yin-Hui and Yin-Hui have defeated the Indian duo, who still leads the head-to-head series 2-1.
The other two Indians competing in the competition are two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and world championship medalist Lakshya Sen, who will begin their campaigns on Wednesday. V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, both 26, last participated in the BWF World Tour in the Denmark Open during the second week of October.
PV Sindhu, ranked 19th in the current badminton rankings for women’s singles, lost to Indonesian bronze medalist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the Denmark Open quarterfinals after defeating China’s Han Yue in the second round.
Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medal and previous world champion, advanced to the final of the Penang Masters BWF Premier 500 game in July. Since winning the Singapore Open in July 2022, the Indian badminton player has yet to win her maiden BWF World Tour title.
Lakshya Sen, who came one win short of winning an Olympic medal in Paris 2024, is India’s only entry in the men’s singles event at the Kumamoto Masters Japan. The world’s number 17 men’s singles shuttler competed in the Arctic Open and the Denmark Open, but has yet to win a match in the new Olympic cycle.