PETALING JAYA: India’s men’s singles star Lakshya Sen is set to provide a stern test for Ng Tze Yong in the second round of the Indonesian Masters today.
Yesterday, the Indian scored a 21-12, 21-11 win over Japan’s world No. 7 and Malaysian Open runner-up Kodai Naraoka in the first round at Istora Senayan in Jakarta.
It was arguably one of Lakshya’s best performances since experiencing a dip in form towards the second half of last year.
After coming out on top against Tze Yong in the final of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August, Lakshya had exited the early rounds of all his tournaments except the Denmark Open in October where he reached the last eight.
The 21-year-old’s disappointing results had seen him drop out of the top 10 in the latest world ranking and occupies 12th spot.
Lakshya though, was in his element in his straightforward victory over Naraoka and will be out to preserve his unbeaten record against world No. 28 Tze Yong.
Tze Yong has never beaten the Indian in three meetings including in the Commonwealth Games.
He also lost to Lakshya in the 2019 Bangladesh International Challenge and last year’s Indian Open.
Tze Yong though, looks to be in equally good form as he blew away Denmark’s world No. 34 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-7, 21-14 in his opening match.
Home favourite Anthony Ginting and China’s Shi Yuqi have set up a fascinating clash with each other after ending the hopes of Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu and Japan’s Kento Momota respectively.
World No. 2 Ginting defeated world No. 16 Cheuk Yiu 21-10, 21-12 while Yuqi (No. 27) beat Momota (No. 19) 21-18, 21-7.
Two-time world champion Momota has yet to win a match in international tournaments this year after also suffering a first round exit in the recent Indian Open.
