Badminton: Letshanaa faces Herculean task to end q-final drought

PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa will need something extraordinary to end her quarter-final drought at the Korean Open as she faces the daunting task of taking on world No. 1 An Se-young today.

Letshanaa secured her place in the second round after beating Thailand’s Tonrug Saeheng 21-17, 21-18 in 47 minutes while Se-young blew away Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova 21-6, 21-8 in the opening round at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu yesterday. Letshanaa has struggled to make an impact in recent months, having failed to reach the quarter-finals in nine consecutive tournaments since her last appearance in the last eight at the Malaysian Masters in May.

And her chances of ending that barren run appear slim against the Korean star, who has been in a class of her own this season. Se-young is chasing her 11th title of the year on home soil, a feat that would see her match her remarkable achievement from last season. The two-time world champion has also been almost unstoppable, with her last defeat coming against China’s Wang Zhiyi in the All-England final in March.

She extended her impressive run to 51 wins this season after checking into the second round. Letshanaa has yet to find a way past Se-young, having lost all four of their previous meetings. Two of those defeats came this year, first at the Asian Team Championships in Qingdao in February and again in the women’s team event at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya in September.

Earlier, Letshanaa’s teammate Wong Ling Ching saw her campaign come to an early end after suffering a narrow 17-21, 23-21, 20-22 defeat to Indonesia’s Thalita Ramadhani in the opening round. Mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing will be looking to extend their good run when they take on home pair Jin Sung-ik-Lee Seung-hee in the second round today.

Pang Ron-Pei Jing, who defeated Thailand’s Tonkid Saeheng-Tonrug Saeheng 21-10, 21-14 in the opening round, are competing in their fifth consecutive tournament since beginning their European campaign at the Arctic Open early last month. Fellow mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Chan Wen Tse will face China’s third seeds Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi for a place in the quarter-finals.