Top Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen registered an upset win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore to storm into the semifinals of the $ 475,000 Kumamoto Masters Japan in Kumamoto, Japan, on Friday.
Commonwealth Games champion Sen, seeded seventh, produced a superlative performance to outclass world No. 9 Loh 21-13, 21-17 in 40 minutes, extending his dominance over the Singaporean with a seventh win in 10 career meetings.
The world No. 15, who finished runner-up at the Hong Kong Open in September, will next face Japan's sixth seed and world No. 13 Kenta Nishimoto.
Coming in with a 6-3 head-to-head lead, Sen displayed impressive all-round control to dismantle Loh, who has been struggling for some time.
The two were tied 4-4 early in the opening game before Sen broke away to take an 11-8 lead at the interval. He reeled off six straight points after the break to move 18-9 ahead and comfortably closed out the game.
Loh showed better resistance in the second game, staying level with Sen at 9-9, but the Indian once again pulled ahead to 15-9. The Singaporean narrowed the gap to 17-18, but Sen held firm to seal the match.
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