Kumamoto, 10 November (H.S.): India’s women’s doubles combination of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan 2026 after registering a straight-games victory in the opening round on Tuesday. The Indian duo defeated Japan’s Hinata Suzuki and Nao Yamakita at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.

Treesa and Gayatri secured the opening game 21-17 and maintained their dominance in the second, winning it 21-14 to seal the match in 42 minutes. With this victory, the Indian pair booked its place in the Round of 16.

In men’s doubles, India’s Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun advanced after receiving a walkover against former world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia. The Indian pair was leading 11-6 in the opening game when the Malaysian combination withdrew from the contest.

Earlier in the day, India’s mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Radhika Sharma suffered an exit in the qualifying round after losing to the American combination of Chen Zhi Yi and Francesca Corbett in straight games.

The Indian pair put up a competitive fight in the opening game, keeping the score level at 8-8. However, the American duo moved ahead 11-9 at the interval and subsequently pulled away to clinch the game 21-16.

The second game proved more closely contested, with Kapila and Sharma fighting back to level the score at 14-14. However, Chen and Corbett stepped up their game in the closing stages, securing successive points to win 21-15 and seal the match.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar