KUALA LUMPUR: K. Letshanaa made a winning start to her 2026 campaign, but it was the end of the road for teammates Wong Ling Ching and Justin Hoh at the Indonesia Masters on Wednesday.
World No. 42 Letshanaa, playing her first competitive match of the season, came back from the brink of defeat to stun Taiwan’s world No. 36 Hsu Wen Chi 9-21, 21-12, 22-20 at Istora Senayan in Jakarta.
The remarkable comeback saw Letshanaa claw her way back from 17-12 down in the decider before saving a match point at 20-19 to exact revenge on the same opponent who had beaten her in their Uber Cup group-stage clash in 2024.
Letshanaa will face Canada’s Michelle Li, the world No. 12 and sixth seed, on Thursday as she bids to reach her maiden Super 500 quarter-final.
World No. 43 Ling Ching, also competing in her first tournament since the SEA Games last month, failed to follow suit after going down fighting to former world junior champion Pitchamon Opatniputh of Thailand.
Ling Ching could not capitalise on her opening-game win as Pitchamon, the world No. 36, fought back to seal a 20-22, 21-13, 21-12 victory.
In men’s singles, world No. 37 Justin Hoh continued to struggle for form, losing 21-15, 21-11 to China‘s world No. 28 Wang Zheng Xing.
The defeat was a let-down considering Justin had outclassed Zheng Xing 21-6, 21-19 in the first round of the Korea Open just four months ago.
The loss meant Justin is still searching for his first win of the year following his opening-round exit at last week’s India Open.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
