Jakarta: World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Denmark's Rasmus Gemke here on Thursday.
The 20-year-old from Almora, who was part of the Indian team that claimed a historic Thomas Cup triumph in Bangkok, prevailed 21-18, 21-15 over world No. 13 Gemke in 54 minutes.
Sen, seeded seventh, will next be pitted against the Chinese Taipei's third seed Chou Tien Chen, who had defeated the Indian in a three-game thriller during the Thomas Cup last month in their only meeting.
Playing Gemke for the first time in his international career, world No. 9 Sen held his nerve and fought his way to a fine win.
Sen overturned a 0-3 deficit to a 9-6 advantage, only to allow Gemke to hold a slender 11-10 cushion at the break. However, the Indian came out all guns blazing and reeled off six straight points to move to 16-12 before sealing the opening game.
Sen and Gemke breathed down each other's neck for most part of the second game as lead exchanged hands frequently before the Indian once again stepped ahead from 13-12 to close out the issue with a four-point burst.
