Lakshya Sen stuns Loh Kean Yew to enter Japan Masters semifinals

Lakshya Sen defeated former world champion Loh Kean Yew 21-13, 21-17 to reach the semifinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan. The seventh seed will face Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto next, extending his head-to-head dominance over Loh to 7-3

Kumamoto (Japan): Top Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen registered an upset straight-game win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore to storm into the semifinals of the USD 475,000 Kumamoto Masters Japan on Friday.

Commonwealth Games champion Sen, seeded seventh, produced a superlative performance to outclass world No 9 Loh 21-13, 21-17 in 40 minutes, extending his dominance over the Singaporean with a seventh win in 10 career meetings.

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Sen, who endured a lean patch before rediscovering his touch with a runner-up finish at the Hong Kong Open followed by quarterfinal appearances at the Denmark and Hylo Open, will now face Japan’s sixth seed and world No 13 Kenta Nishimoto in the last-four stage.

Coming in with a 6-3 head-to-head lead, Sen, the 2021 World Championship bronze winner, displayed impressive all-round control to dismantle Loh, who has been struggling for some time.

The two were tied 4-4 early in the opening game before Sen broke away to take an 11-8 lead at the interval. He reeled off six straight points after the break to move 18-9 ahead and comfortably closed out the game.

Loh showed better resistance in the second game, staying level with Sen at 9-9, but the Indian once again pulled ahead to 15-9. The Singaporean narrowed the gap to 17-18, but Sen held firm to seal the match.