Ayush Shetty Shocks Lee Zii Jia, Lakshya Sen Advances At Malaysia Open

India’s Ayush Shetty shocked Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist, by winning in straight games. Lakshya Sen also advanced to the men’s singles round of 16 at the Malaysia Open

Super 1000 badminton tournament on Tuesday.

Shetty, the promising youngster who previously won the US Open Super 300, secured a 21-12, 21-17 upset victory in the round-of-32 match, which lasted just 39 minutes. He will now face top seed Shi Yu Qi of China in the round of 16.

Jia, a former All England champion and currently ranked world No. 144, was playing his first tournament since the China Masters last September after recovering from an injury.

Meanwhile, Sen, aged 24, had a hard-fought win against Jia Heng Jason Teh of Singapore. Sen, who won the Australian Open and reached the finals in Hong Kong last season, took 70 minutes to overcome world No. 21 Teh with a score of 21-16, 15-21, 21-14 in a thrilling opener. Sen, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist and currently ranked world No. 13, will next face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong.

In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod, who returned after a six-month layoff due to a left knee injury, lost 11-21, 11-21 to seventh seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, a former world champion, in the opening round.

Indian men’s doubles pair M R Arjun and 22-year-old Hariharan Amsakarunan also faced defeat against Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita with scores of 10-21, 20-22.

(With agency inputs)