Japan Open badminton highlights: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal crash out, K Srikanth progresses
While PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Japan Open Superseries on Thursday, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy will keep the Indian flag flying on Friday when the two take on their respective quarterfinal opponents in Tokyo. Get highlights of Japan Open Superseries badminton here.
PV Sindhu lost in straight games to Nozomi Okuhara in the second round of women’s singles at the $325,000 Japan Open Superseries badminton in Tokyo today. This was their ninth career meeting and now Nozomi leads 5-4. Saina Nehwal too crashed out after losing to Olympic champion Carolina Marin in straight games at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. While Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy won to enter the men’s singles quarterfinals, Sameer Verma lost his second round contest. Get highlights of Japan Open Superseries badminton here. (India vs Australia 2nd ODI live updates | Live scorecard)

15:45 hrs IST: Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Thank you.
15:40 hrs IST: While Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy ply their trade in men’s singles on Friday, it will be Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy who will take part in the mixed doubles last eight.
15:35 hrs IST: Four Indians will be in action tomorrow in the quarterfinals
15:30 hrs IST: Well that’s that from today.
15:25 hrs IST: And it is over! Saina has lost 16-21, 13-21 to Carolina!
15:21 hrs IST: Carolina is on the verge of victory
15:19 hrs IST: Saina hits doubles digits, trails 10-17
15:16 hrs IST: Carolina is clearly pulling away and there is not much Saina can do to come back
15:13 hrs IST: And Carolina leads 11-7 at the mini break!
15:11 hrs IST: Marin is running away again! Five straight points to go 9-6 in the lead
15:10 hrs IST: Marin takes the lead at 7-6 for the firs time in this game
15:09 hrs IST: Looks like this game is also going to the wire
15:07 hrs IST: Carolina closes the gap at 4-4 yet again!
15:05 hrs IST: The second game has begun with Saina 3-1 in lead
15:03 hrs IST: Bring on game 2!
15:02 hrs IST: Saina saved one but Carolina closed the game on her second chance to take it 21-16
15:00 hrs IST: In fact six straight points for the Spaniard and she is on game point!
14:59 hrs IST: Four straight points for Carolina and she is ahead!
14:57 hrs IST: This is neck and neck stuff from both the former World No.1s
14:55 hrs IST: Marin is not going to let Saina run away with this and she closes in at 14-all!
14:52 hrs IST: Five consecutive points for Saina before she is halted by Carolina!
14:49 hrs IST: Wow brilliant spurt from Saina to win three straight points and take an 11-9 lead!
14:45 hrs IST: But Saina is not giving up that easily!
14:44 hrs IST: The reigning Olympic champion from Spain is slowly extending her lead!
14:41 hrs IST: It is neck and neck between the two rivals right now!
14:39 hrs IST: And Saina Nehwal has bagged the first point of the match!
14:38 hrs IST: The two girls are warming-up now!
14:37 hrs IST: Saina and Carolina are on the court!
14:25 hrs IST: The biggest match between Saina and Carolina was the 2015 World Badminton Championships final where the Spaniard prevailed in straight games
14:22 hrs IST: We are not far from the match now.
14:15 hrs IST: This is going to be yet another exciting contest
14:02 hrs IST: Saina’s last victory against Carolina came in December 2015 during the Superseries Finals in Dubai
13:57 hrs IST: The last time two met was in Indonesia last year when Carolina trumped Saina in straight games
13:55 hrs IST: However, this will be their first meeting in 2017
13:50 hrs IST: Significantly, Saina Nehwal has a 4-3 advantage in career meetings over the Spaniard
13:46 hrs IST: This will be the eighth meeting between Saina Nehwal and Carolina Marin
13:35 hrs IST: Saina Nehwal will play her women’s singles second round against Spanish fifth seed Carolina Marin
13:27 hrs IST: Saina Nehwal is the last Indian left in the day’s play.
13:25 hrs IST: So eventually, local player Nozomi Okuhara defeated fourth seeded PV Sindhu 21-18, 21-8 in 47 minutes.
13:23 hrs IST: This is the only the second time in nine meetings between Sindhu and Nozomi that the match ended in straight games
13:21 hrs IST: And she has lost it! Sindhu went down 18-21, 8-21 to Nozomi!
13:16 hrs IST: Nozomi Okuhara has totally demolished PV Sindhu is the second game!
13:14 hrs IST: This match is going away from Sindhu! She is down 5-14
13:10 hrs IST: Meanwhile, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy have beaten Japanese pair of Yuki Kaneko and Koharu Yonemoto 21-13, 21-17 in 32 minutes to enter the mixed doubles quarterfinals
13:08 hrs IST: At 9-3, Nozomi has a big lead in the second game and clearly in the driver’s seat
13:06 hrs IST: As of now Nozomi is running away with the 2nd game
13:04 hrs IST: Sindhu finally gets off the mark in the second game but Nozomi immediately wins a point to extend her lead
13:02 hrs IST: PV Sindhu is down 0-3 in the second game! She will need to fight now or all will be lost
12:59 hrs IST: What fightback! Okuhara wins five straight points from 18-21 to win the first game 21-18!
12:57 hrs IST: Okuhara has won three straight points to retake the lead at 19-18
12:56 hrs IST: SO CLOSE! It is 18-all!
12:55 hrs IST: This is turning out to be yet another epic contest between the two modern day greats!
12:54 hrs IST: Five straight for Sindhu and then one for Nozomi. Level at 16-all!
12:52 hrs IST: Now four straight points for Sindhu to level it at 15-all!
12:50 hrs IST: Sindhu’s first point out of the seven played! She trails 12-15 in the first game
12:49 hrs IST: Nozomi is on a roll! Six straight points!
12:47 hrs IST: Four straight points and Okuhara retakes the lead!
12:46 hrs IST: Nozomi has closed in at 11-all
12:44 hrs IST: Sindhu leads 11-9 at the mini-break
12:43 hrs IST: Sindhu is somehow managing to keep the lead
12:42 hrs IST: Nozomi has fought back to equalise at 8-all in the first game!
12:40 hrs IST: There is a lot of support for local girl Nozomi Okuhara who is playing in front of her home crowd
12:38 hrs IST: The mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy are also playing their mixed doubles second round against local combine of Yuki Kaneko and Koharu Yonemoto simultaneously on a separate court
12:36 hrs IST: Sindhu has won three straight points to go 6-2 in the lead!
12:34 hrs IST: Nozomi Okuhara has won this tournament before in 2015 while no Indian has ever won the Japan Open
12:32 hrs IST: Nozomi takes the first point!
12:31 hrs IST: And the show begins! PV Sindhu to serve
12:30 hrs IST: Sindhu and Nozomi have stepped on to the court and are warming-up
12:25 hrs IST: After playing two marathon matches in the finals of the World Championships and Korea Open, the two will be facing each other for the third time in as many tournaments
12:22 hrs IST: It is time for Sindhu’s match
12:18 hrs IST: PV Sindhu today matched her career best ranking of No.2
12:15 hrs IST: In world rankings, Sindhu is World No.2 while the Japanese is No.8
12:11 hrs IST: While PV Sindhu is seeded fourth at Japan Open, Nozomi Okuhara is unseeded
12:08 hrs IST: However, Nozomi won the most crucial match of the three, the World Championships final last month in Glasgow which turned out to be the second longest match in women’s singles history
12:05 hrs IST: The two girls have met thrice this year and Sindhu has won twice
12:02 hrs IST: Out of the eight times they have met, seven times the match has entered the deciding third game
12:00 hrs IST: This will be the ninth meeting between PV Sindhu and Nozomi Okuhara
11:55 hrs IST: The next Indian who will take the court is PV Sindhu, who will be up against Nozomi Okuhara
11:54 hrs IST: This was Srikanth’s third win against Hu Yun in five meetings!
11:53 hrs IST: And Kidambi Srikanth has won 21-12, 21-11 against Hu Yun of Hong Kong!
11:50 hrs IST: For all those who want to watch the match on TV, unfortunately there is no live broadcast. However, live streaming will be available tomorrow onwards when the quarterfinals begin
11:48 hrs IST: Srikanth leads 14-8 now in the second game
11:43 hrs IST: Meanwhile, Srikanth is having it easy here as he leads 10-5 in the second game after winning the first
11:40 hrs IST: Sindhu’s match will also start in about half an hour
11:38 hrs IST: Meanwhile, Srikanth has won his first game 21-12 pretty quickly
11:37 hrs IST: Interesting fact: Hu Yun has lost his last seven matches! Meaning he last won an international match way back in April at the Singapore Open! That victory was against Sameer Verma, who just some minutes went down to Shi Yuqi in his men’s singles second round
11:34 hrs IST: But Srikanth, who is seeded here and is ranked much higher than Hu Yun, should win here.
11:32 hrs IST: So this is their first meeting in two years!
11:30 hrs IST: In 2015 though, Hu Yun won both the encounters between them
11:27 hrs IST: They played twice in 2014 and both times Srikanth won
11:25 hrs IST: This is the fifth match between the two ace shuttlers
11:22 hrs IST: Meanwhile, Srikanth’s match has started against Hu Yun
11:15 hrs IST: While Srikanth will be going up against Hong Kong veteran Hu Yun, Sindhu will be taking on arch nemesis Nozomi Okuhara
11:13 hrs IST: Next up is Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu
11:12 hrs IST: Sameer Verma has lost 21-10, 17-21, 15-21 to Chinese second seed Shi Yuqi in an hour and four minutes
11:07 hrs IST: Shi Yuqi is 18-12 ahead in the decider now
10:56 hrs IST: Shi Yuqi is taking points when it is utmost crucial, he is ahead by 15-11 now
10:51 hrs IST: It is very close between the two in the third game with Verma with a slight 7-5 lead
10:46 hrs IST: Shi Yuqi has taken the second game 21-17 to push the match into the decider
10:45 hrs IST: It is 19-17 now and wait ...
10:42 hrs IST: The Chinese shuttler was 17-7 in the lead but Sameer is fighting back here. He does not want to take this to the third game
10:35 hrs IST: But Shi Yuqi has comeback well in the second game and raced away to a 18-9 lead
10:25 hrs IST: And Sameer Verma has won the first game 21-10
10:20 hrs IST: This time around though Sameer has already taken a 15-9 lead in the first game
10:15 hrs IST: The last time they met was last year when Shi Yuqi won in straight games
10:12 hrs IST: This is Sameer Verma’s second meeting against the Chinese World No.4
10:10 hrs IST: And in comes Sameer Verma who faces a tough challenge against Chinese second seed Shi Yuqi
10:07 hrs IST: That match lasted exactly an hour
10:05: hrs IST: HS Prannoy beats Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen Hao 21-16, 23-21
10:00 hrs IST: Prannoy has won it! What a comeback! Down 20-21, the Indian won three straight points to win the match
09:56 hrs IST: It is neck and neck between Prannoy and Hsu in the second game with both players at 20-all
09:48 hrs IST: Meanwhile Sameer Verma is the next Indian who will take the court at Japan Open
09:40 hrs IST: It is 14-all now. Who is going to edge out here?
09:36 hrs IST: This is also the first meeting between Prannoy and Hsu Jen Hao in two years
09:35 hrs IST: This is the third time Prannoy is playing Hsu Jen Hao. However, the Indian has never beaten the Chinese Taipei shuttler in their previous two meetings
09:33 hrs IST: Meanwhile, all Sindhu followers -- her match will be against Nozomi Okuhara around noon IST
09:32 hrs IST: It is close between Prannoy and Hsu in the second game
09:30 hrs IST: Meanwhile Prannoy has won the first game 21-16
09:25 hrs IST: Thursday has not started well for Indian shuttlers in Japan as Indonesian fourth seeds Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto have beaten Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa 29-27, 16-21, 21-12 in an hour and six minutes
09:20 hrs IST: While Prannoy’s is taking on Hsu Jen Hao of Chinese Taipei, Satwiksairaj and Ashwini are facing Indonesian fourth seeds Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto
09:15 hrs IST: Currently Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa and men’s singles shuttler HS Prannoy are in action at the stadium
09:13 hrs IST: The tournament is being held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum
09:10 hrs IST: Action has already begun at the $325,000 Japan Open Superseries
09:05 hrs IST: Welcome to the live badminton blog of the Japan Open Superseries
09:00 hrs IST: Hello and good morning.