By: Express News ServiceNovember 16, 2025 01:20 AM IST 4 min readLakshya Sen’s impressive run at the Kumamoto Japan Masters Super 500 tournament came to an end on Saturday in the semifinals as he lost to local favourite Kenta Nishimoto in a three-game battle. World number 13 Nishimoto prevailed in 77 minutes against Lakshya, ranked two places below him, 21-19, 14-21, 21-12 in 77 minutes.As per ranking trackers, the defeat marked the end of Lakshya’s outside chances of making it to the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals where the top 8 shuttlers over the course of the calendar from each of the five disciplines compete. Lakshya’s late-season resurgence, where he made it to the final at Hong Kong Open and semifinals at Macau Open, came a bit late for him to make the cut to the lucrative year-ender. The string of first or second round exits in the first half of the year, which he has attributed to a couple of niggling injuries, eventually proved costly.In the semifinal against Nishimoto too, Lakshya slipped on his front leg at the net as he went for a backhand; he still managed to get back up and into position for a forehand block. He dived to his right but couldn’t keep the shuttle in play, and then was slow to pick himself up, trudging off to the sidelines and needing a couple of minutes to loosen himself up. He won the point immediately after, and his movement seemed alright but the momentum shifted completely towards Nishimoto as he opened up an 8-3 lead and held on to cross the finish line.Lakshya, the 2021 World Championship bronze medallist, came into the match with a 3-2 head-to-head lead but had lost their previous encounter at the Indonesia Masters earlier this year. In a clash between two evenly-matched players, it was about staying consistent in the rallies and drawing out errors. Lakshya managed that early on, moving to an 8-4 lead, but Nishimoto seized the momentum by taking seven straight points for a 10-9 advantage. The Japanese player smashed out once but still held a narrow lead as Lakshya found the net.Nishimoto’s steep smashes troubled Lakshya as he moved ahead 15-13. The Indian pounced on a loose net shot to make it 14-15 before producing a crosscourt return to level the score. Lakshya edged ahead 17-16 but briefly let it slip with two shots into the net. A thundering straight smash made it 18-18 before his next attempt missed the line by a whisker. A crisp reverse slice drop gave Nishimoto two game points. He sent one smash wide before Lakshya netted again, handing the opening game to the Japanese.Changing ends, Lakshya fell 1-5 behind but slowed the rallies and stitched together a run of points to take an 8-7 lead as Nishimoto began to struggle physically. The Indian claimed eight of the last nine points to go into the break with a three-point cushion, finishing the run with a sharp cross-court smash. Both players looked to outmanoeuvre each other and Lakshya maintained his advantage, reaching 16-13 with a mix of delicate net play, crisp smashes and robust defence. With Nishimoto faltering, Lakshya surged to a 20-14 lead and levelled the match as the Japanese went long.Start of the third game, Nishimoto rediscovered his rhythm with sharp, attacking returns. He moved to 5-2 after Lakshya slipped and sent the shuttle wide during the aforementioned defensive reflex dive. A terrific body smash pushed Nishimoto to 7-3 even as Lakshya did a full pirouette in an attempt to retrieve it but couldn’t save the point. It became 9-5 with another long return from the Indian.The Japanese showed great tactical awareness, producing a precise cross-court smash to take a four-point lead at the interval during which Lakshya’s coach Yoo Yong Sun was seen massaging his ward’s left thigh vigorously, suggesting perhaps he was not 100% fit.Story continues below this adOn resumption, Lakshya tapped into the net as Nishimoto stretched the lead to 14-7 with two more smashes, celebrating each point with a fist pump. Another body smash, followed by a long shot from Lakshya, took Nishimoto to 17-9. Lakshya eventually went wide to hand eight match points to Nishimoto, who sealed his place in the final with another clean smash.(With PTI inputs)© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Lakshya Sen