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 here 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. Fast-rising men's doubles pairing of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, who jumped nine places to reach world number 26 after a quarterfinal finish at the World Championships, also lost 21-19 21-23 15-21 to Korean combination of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho after wasting a match point in the second game. In other results, Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly lost 17-21 18-21 to seventh seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand in women's doubles category.