KUMAMOTO: India's Lakshya Sen came from a game down to beat home favourite Koki Watanabe 13-21, 21-18, 21-14 in the men's singles final on Sunday and win the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 title, PTI reported. India Today also reported the victory, describing it as a three-game thriller that doubled up Sen's Hylo Open triumph.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld

The win makes Sen the first Indian ever to lift the title at this tournament. Khel Now, which tracked the final live from the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, reported that Sen had already become the first Indian to reach the final of the Super 500 event since its inception in 2023, and he went one step further on Sunday.

Sen lost the opening game 13-21 as Watanabe, backed by the home crowd, started faster. The Indian steadied himself to take the second game 21-18 and force a decider, then closed out the match 21-14 in the third to complete the comeback.

The title completes a run this desk has followed all week. In Saturday's semifinal, Sen beat Indonesia's sixth seed Alwi Farhan 21-12, 15-21, 21-11 in a 70-minute contest — his first win over the world No. 10 in three meetings — after earlier defeating Japan's Yushi Tanaka in the quarterfinals. Watanabe reached the final by upsetting Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the other semifinal.

It is Sen's second title of the season, after the Hylo Open in Germany earlier this month, and his third final of the year — he was also runner-up at the All England Open. Before Sunday, Sen led his head-to-head with Watanabe 4-3, although the Japanese player had won their last two meetings.

The Kumamoto crown also strengthens Sen's push for a place at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, for which he needs to finish inside the top eight of the race standings.