PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa faces a stern test against Japan’s former world champion Nozomi Okuhara in the US Open first round in Iowa today.
World No. 50 Letshanaa, who is competing in the World Tour Super 300 tournament for the first time, needs to find a way to overcome Okuhara to avoid an early exit.
The Japanese ace is far from the player who captured the world title in 2017 but still poses a threat due to her vast experience.
Okuhara, who was once ranked No. 1 in the world, has slipped to No. 42 in the latest rankings after form and fitness issues.
Letshanaa will be out to score an upset in her first meeting against Okuhara and boost her own confidence after struggling for form herself this year.
The 21-year-old’s best performance this year was in the Taiwan Open last month where she made it into the last eight before going down in three games to South Korea’s world No. 15 Sim Yu-jin.
The winner of the match between Letshanaa and Okuhara will play either India’s Aakarshi Kashyap or Taiwan’s Liang Ting-yu in the second round.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, world No. 43 Justin Hoh will open his campaign today against Belgium’s world No. 59 Julien Carraggi.
Justin is out for his second win over Carraggi after beating him in the Thailand Open qualifying round last month.
A victory for the 21-year-old will likely see him take on India’s world No. 57 S. Sankar Muthusamy for a place in the quarter-final.
