Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu made yet another first-round exit, but Lakshya Sen staved off a spirited challenge from fellow Indian Priyanshu Rajawat to progress to the second round of the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

Newly-crowned Korea Open champion Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also made a positive start to their campaign, extending their unbeaten run to 11 matches, following the wins in Yeosu and Indonesia. Enduring a tough phase of her career, Sindhu lost 12-21, 13-21 to Zhang Yi Man of China in her opener that lasted 32 minutes. It was her seventh first round exit in 13 BWF World Tour events this year.