Putri KW Defeats Japanese Representative in Japan Open 2025 First Round

Putri Kusuma Wardani advanced to the second round of Japan Open 2025 after defeating home representative Natsuki Nidaira at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Wednesday (16/7/2025).

The badminton player commonly known as Putri KW — remains Indonesia’s sole representative in women’s singles after Gregoria Mariska Tunjung was eliminated in the first round following her comeback from vertigo.

The victory with a score of 21-10, 21-16 — also serves as revenge for Putri KW’s defeat to Nidaira at last year’s Indonesia Masters.

“Overall, I’m quite satisfied with my performance today. I’m confident from the training results over the past month that previous shortcomings have gradually been addressed and it shows on court,” Putri KW told PBSI.

“Like speed and leg strength have started to improve. Not yet full capacity, but there are positive changes,” she added.

In the first game, the match started tight — but Putri KW managed to pull ahead to a 5-2 lead through accurate cross-court shots.