Badminton
Malaysian Open: Ayush Shetty stuns Olympic medalist Lee Zii Jia in first round
Meanwhile, Lakshya defeated Jason Teh Jia Heng of Singapore in his first round match.
Ayush Shetty stunned the Olympic medalist Lee Zii Jia. (Photo credit: IANS)
Indian ace Lakshya Sen gave a winning start to his year, reaching the second round of the Malaysia Open Super1000 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old defeated Jason Teh Jia Heng of Singapore in a tiring three-game encounter, 21-16, 15-21, 21-14, keeping his unbeaten record against Jason.
This was the fourth meeting between the two youngsters, with the Indian shuttler now leading the Head-to-Head record to 4-0.
Ayush Shetty stuns Olympic medalist
Ayush Shetty kicked off the year in outstanding form, picking up right where he left off, knocking out the Paris Olympics bronze medalist Lee Zii Jia at his home turf.
The home favourite, returning from a long injury break, bowed down against the 20-year-old Indian in straight games, 12-21, 17-21, at the round of 32 matchup.
After completely outclassing Lee in the opening game, it was looking like an easy win for Ayush. But then, the Malaysian showed some classy shots in the second round to trouble him.
Ayush, however, calmed himself back and came from behind to close the deficit in the second game and levelled the scores at 17-17.
In the final moments, Lee fumbled under the pressure and made plenty of unforced errors on his returns, resulting in a straight-game win for the Indian.
Lakshya outshines Jason
Despite a delayed start on court 3, Lakshya looked calm from the beginning, taking an early lead in the first game. However, Jason bounced back with some good shots, levelling the score at 10-10.
But post the midgame, the Indian shuttler increased the pace of his game and quickly gained back a big lead and finished off the game comfortably.
In the second game, Lakshya made a couple of errors early, which shifted the momentum towards Jason, who didn't miss this opportunity and forced the decider.
Then, in the final game, both players looked a bit nervous and made a couple of regular unforced errors, keeping each other's scores in check.
Post mid-game, Lakshya started playing aggressively as Jason wasn't looking comfortable from that side, giving multiple high returns, which helped Lakshya to win the match dominantly.
On the other hand, the youngster Malvika Bansod conceded a first-round exit to Ratchanok Intanton of Thailand in women's singles, losing in straight games, 11-21, 11-21.
