Jakarta: The Indian shuttlers would eye a drastic improvement after last week’s disappointing home run when they go up against a demanding draw at the $500,000 Indonesia Masters, which gets underway here on Tuesday.
At the India Open in New Delhi last week, Lakshya Sen bowed out in the men’s singles quarterfinals, while no Indian progressed beyond the last eight in any category as Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi and world No. 1 one An Se Young of Korea clinched the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively. The focus now shifts to Jakarta, where Indian shuttlers will face a challenging line-up in the opening rounds with several tough ties against higher-ranked opponents.
Seventh seed Lakshya will be hurting after his run at India Open was cut short by Lin in the last-eight stage. He will look to make a good start against Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh.