<p>India's Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run, notching up a straight-game win over local hope Koki Watanabe to progress to the semifinals of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday.</p>.<p>A 2021 world championship bronze medallist, world number 13 Sen registered a 21-15 21-19 victory over Watanabe, ranked 33rd, to make his third successive semi-finals, following his exploits in Canada and the United States.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/other-sports/lakshya-ends-long-title-drought-1235744.html">Lakshya ends long title drought</a></strong></p>.<p>The 21-year-old from Almora, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, will play either fifth seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie or third seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand.</p>.<p>In-form men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, couldn't produce their 'A' game, going down fighting 15-21 25-23 16-21 to Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lan of Chinese Taipei.</p>.<p>Sen, who had won the Canada Open Super 500 early this month, opened up a 5-3 lead early on before moving to 11-7 at the break. The Indian didn't have much problem negotiating the Japanese and soon sealed the opening game with two cross court returns on both side of the court.</p>.<p>After the change of sides, Watanabe tried to inject some pace in the rallies but Sen looked in control and moved to 3-2 with a lovely cross court drop. A 42-shot rally ended with Sen's backhand crashing into the net as Watanabe turned it around to lead 5-3 before consolidating it further at 7-3.</p>.<p>The Japanese strengthened his defense as soon things seemed like going down the downhill for Sen, who trailed 7-14.</p>.<p>However, the Indian scripted a turnaround, drawing his opponent to the net and using the drop shots to good effect. He soon turned the tables at 18-17 with a cross court smash.</p>.<p>With two returns on his opponent's backhand, Sen gained one-match point before producing another precise return at the back-line and then threw his racquet in celebration.</p>.<p>The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300.</p>.<p>One other category of the tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.</p>
<p>India's Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run, notching up a straight-game win over local hope Koki Watanabe to progress to the semifinals of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday.</p>.<p>A 2021 world championship bronze medallist, world number 13 Sen registered a 21-15 21-19 victory over Watanabe, ranked 33rd, to make his third successive semi-finals, following his exploits in Canada and the United States.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/other-sports/lakshya-ends-long-title-drought-1235744.html">Lakshya ends long title drought</a></strong></p>.<p>The 21-year-old from Almora, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, will play either fifth seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie or third seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand.</p>.<p>In-form men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, couldn't produce their 'A' game, going down fighting 15-21 25-23 16-21 to Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lan of Chinese Taipei.</p>.<p>Sen, who had won the Canada Open Super 500 early this month, opened up a 5-3 lead early on before moving to 11-7 at the break. The Indian didn't have much problem negotiating the Japanese and soon sealed the opening game with two cross court returns on both side of the court.</p>.<p>After the change of sides, Watanabe tried to inject some pace in the rallies but Sen looked in control and moved to 3-2 with a lovely cross court drop. A 42-shot rally ended with Sen's backhand crashing into the net as Watanabe turned it around to lead 5-3 before consolidating it further at 7-3.</p>.<p>The Japanese strengthened his defense as soon things seemed like going down the downhill for Sen, who trailed 7-14.</p>.<p>However, the Indian scripted a turnaround, drawing his opponent to the net and using the drop shots to good effect. He soon turned the tables at 18-17 with a cross court smash.</p>.<p>With two returns on his opponent's backhand, Sen gained one-match point before producing another precise return at the back-line and then threw his racquet in celebration.</p>.<p>The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300.</p>.<p>One other category of the tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.</p>