Kidambi Srikanth produced one of his best performances of the season on Thursday, stunning home favourite and world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka to reach the quarter-finals of the Kumamoto Masters in Japan.
The former world No. 1 won 21-15, 11-21, 21-18 in a 60-minute contest at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium in the second round of the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.
01. Breaking the Naraoka jinx
Srikanth entered the match with a 0-4 head-to-head record against Naraoka, the fifth seed and 2026 World Championships silver medallist. He finally broke that run with a composed display.
After trailing 12-14 in the opening game, Srikanth won seven points in a row to take it 21-15. Naraoka hit back strongly in the second game, winning it 21-11 to level the match. In the decider, Srikanth drew level at 7-7 and gradually took control before sealing the win 21-18.
Srikanth, ranked world No. 31, had earlier beaten Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke 18-21, 21-16, 24-22 in a thrilling first-round match on Wednesday.
02. What happens next
Srikanth will next face another Japanese shuttler, world No. 15 Koki Watanabe, in the quarter-finals on Friday, for a place in the semi-finals.
Lakshya Sen also reached the men’s singles quarter-finals, keeping India’s hopes alive at the tournament. Indian doubles pairs, however, suffered exits earlier in the day.
