Kumamoto Masters Japan, day one: Fukushima and Matsumoto win in three games
The top-seeded Japanese women's doubles pair lost the first game, then beat a Chinese pair 2–1 in their opening match at the Super 500 in Kumamoto.
What happened
On the first day of the Kumamoto Masters Japan, Tuesday 10 November 2026, the Japanese women's doubles pair Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto beat a Chinese pair 2–1 in games in the first round, and go through to the second round. Four open reports agree on this: the Kumamoto broadcaster KAB, the news agency Jiji as carried by Yahoo News Japan, KKT and FNN. Fukushima comes from Yatsushiro, in Kumamoto prefecture.
How the match went
The reports tell it the same way. The Japanese pair lost the first game. In the second, KAB says they began with five points in a row, and KKT adds that they kept the initiative and took the game back. In the third game the score reached 21–21, according to KKT, and a hard smash from Fukushima gave the pair match point before they closed out the win. The reports do not give the final score of the third game, so we do not either.
FNN, which calls Fukushima and Matsumoto the top seeds, says the Chinese pair were Li Yijing and Wang Yiduo (our spelling of the names as FNN writes them in Japanese characters). It also describes Fukushima using sharp shots to the corners and soft drops at the net in the later stages of the match.
In their words
Fukushima told KAB it was a very hard match, that she is happy and relieved to have won and be through to the next one, and that, since she is playing close to home, she wants to enjoy each match as usual. Asked by FNN about the Kumamoto earthquake, she said there is nothing specific she can do now, and that she can only try to bring good news through her results.
Why it matters
For a top-seeded pair, a first round that goes to three games is a reminder that nothing is settled at a Super 500. The tournament continues until 15 November. This note covers one match: other first-round results will follow once two independent sources confirm them.