Top seed Kento Momota survived a scare from Lakshya Sen before beating the Indian at the Indonesia Open BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament in Bali on Tuesday.
Unseeded Sen squandered a game point to allow world No 1 Momota to clinch an extended first game. The Indian put up a brave fight before going down 21-23, 15-21 in the men's singles first round that lasted 54 minutes.
It was the second consecutive defeat for world No 19 Sen at the hands of the Japanese in as many weeks. Momota beat Sen 21-13, 21-19 in the second round of the Indonesian Masters last week.
Lakshya Sen a point away from taking first game
Sen was leading 21-20, only a point away from taking the first game.
However, the in-form Japanese did not give up and won three successive points to foil Sen's bid.
Sen put up a strong fight in the second game, but the experienced Momota clinched the big points to close it out.
Kashyap fails to clear first-round hurdle
Veteran Parupalli Kashyap proved no match for young Singapore shuttler Loh Kean Yew, losing 11-21, 14-21 in the men's singles first round.
The men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila went down 20-22, 13-21 to Korea's Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho in the opening round, while the mixed doubles pair of Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan also lost in straight games to the German duo of Jones Ralfy Jansen and Linda Efler.
Third seed PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth will be in action on Wednesday.
Indian results (Round 1)
Men’s singles
Lakshya Sen lost to 1-Kento Momota (Japan) 21-23, 15-21 (54 minutes)
Parupalli Kashyap lost to Loh Kean Yew (Singapore) 11-21, 14-21 (32 minutes)
Men’s doubles
MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila lost to Choi Solgyu-Kim Wonho (Korea) 20-22, 13-21 (41 minutes)
Mixed doubles
Venkat Gaurav Prasad-Juhi Dewangan lost to Jones Ralfy Jansen-Linda Efler (Germany) 12-21, 4-21 (23 minutes)
Indian players in action on Wednesday (Round 1)
Men’s singles
Kidambi Srikanth vs HS Prannoy
B Sai Praneeth vs Toma Junior Popov (France)
Women’s singles
3-PV Sindhu vs Aya Ohori (Japan)
Women’s doubles
Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy vs 5-Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bulgaria)
Mixed doubles
Dhruv Kapila-N Sikki Reddy vs Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya (Japan)
B Sumeeth Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa vs Takuro Hoki-Nami Matsuyama (Japan).