Star Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth registered a stunning straight-game win over world number 4 Lee Zii Jia but Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat in the opening round of the Japan Open Super 750 tournament in Osaka on Wednesday.
Srikanth, a former world number 1, recovered from his early exit from last week's World Championships, to outwit fifth seed Lee 22-20 23-21 in his men's singles opener which lasted 37 minutes.
It was his first win over the Malaysian in four meetings. The 21-year-old Sen, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, however, squandered an opening game advantage to go down 21-18, 14-21, 13-21 to world number 21 Japanese Kenta Nishimoto in his first match.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was also no match for top seed Akane Yamaguchi as she lost 9-21, 17-21 to the local favourite in 30 minutes.