In just 54 minutes, the 20-year-old from Almora defeated world number 13 Rasmus Gemke 21-18, 21-15. He was a member of the Indian team that won the Thomas Cup for the first time in Bangkok.
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Lakshya Sen, the bronze medalist at the World Championships, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton competition on Thursday with a straight-game victory against Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.
In 54 minutes, the 20-year-old from Almora defeated world number 13 Gemke, 21-18, 21-15. He was a member of the Indian team that won the Thomas Cup for the first time in Bangkok.
Sen, seeded seventh, will face Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, who beat the Indians in a three-game thriller during the Thomas Cup last month.
Sen, playing Gemke for the first time in his international career, showed better nerves than usual, limiting his errors and fighting his way to a superb victory.
Sen rallied from a 3-0 hole to a 9-6 lead, only for Gemke to maintain a slim 11-10 lead at halftime. The Indians, on the other hand, came out firing and scored six straight points to go up 16-12 before winning the first game.
For most of the second game, Sen and Gemke were breathing down each other’s necks for most of the second game as the lead changed hands regularly before the Indian retook the lead from 13-12 to seal the deal with a four-point surge.
P V Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, will face Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia. In contrast, Ashwini Ponnappa and B Sumeeth Reddy’s mixed doubles team will face second-seeded Chinese Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong later in the day.
