Letshanaa shocks Danish player to enter last-16 at Indonesia Open

 K Letshanaa beat Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt 21-14,19-21,21-13 in her opening match at the World Tour Super 1000 event.

K Letshanaa faces a tough second-round match against Japan’s top player Akane Yamaguchi. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

National women’s singles player K Letshanaa gave a sterling performance to stage an upset by defeating Danish player Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in the first round of the Indonesia Open last night.

The top Malaysian women’s singles player, ranked world No 31, took an hour to subdue the world No 20 in three games, winning 21-14, 19-21, 21-13 at Istora Senayan in Jakarta.

Although she had been beaten by her rival twice before in previous encounters, Letshanaa’s defence in last night’s match was outstanding.

Letshanaa will face a tough hurdle in the next round where she takes on top Japanese player Akane Yamaguchi, who beat her at the Uber Cup meet in April in their only encounter to date.

Malaysian shuttlers will feature in all five categories in the second round today, with three men’s doubles pairs, two women’s doubles pairs, two mixed doubles pairs, and one player each in the men’s and women’s singles, bringing the total to nine representatives.

The Indonesia Open is a World Tour Super 1000 event which offers a total cash prize of US$1.45 million. - FMT