Malaysian women’s singles player K.Letshanaa has suffered a first-round exit at the China Open, continuing a difficult run at badminton’s highest level.
The world No.28 was defeated 21-16, 21-15 by American shuttler Beiwen Zhang at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou.
Ranked world No.31, Beiwen used her experience to take control of the important moments of both games. The American, who was once ranked among the world’s top 10, remained calm under pressure to win the game.
Tough Run Continues
The defeat is Letshanaa’s second consecutive first-round exit and her fourth straight early exit in the tournaments rated Super 750 or higher.
She made a impressive progress for the past 18 months and has climbed into world’s top 30. However, competing against the sport’s top-ranked players proved that its a challenging step.
Even with the recent results, Letshanaa is still positive and sees every match at this level as an opportunity to improve. After her first round exit at Japan open last week, she said she is still gaining valuable experience in the biggest tournaments.
Sources: NST
