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Seventh seed Lakshya Sen will lock horns with fourth seed Jonatan Christie in the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Masters 2023 in Jakarta on Friday.
After beating World No. 7 Kodai Naraoka handily, Sen was put to a stern test by Malaysia's NG Tze Yong in a rematch of their 2022 Commonwealth Games final. The World No. 12 had to work his way back into the match before eking out a gritty 19-21, 21-8, 21-17 win in the second round.
He now faces reigning Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie in his quest for his first semifinal of the season.
Lakshya Sen vs Jonatan Christie: Head-to-head and prediction
Sen has a 1-0 lead in his head-to-head against Christie. Their only meeting so far came at the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2020, where the Indian emerged a 21-18, 22-20 winner.
Currently ranked third, the Indonesian had a fine showing last year. He won the Swiss Open title, besides finishing as the runner-up at the Badminton Asia Championships and the Korea Open. Christie also reached the semifinals at the Malaysia Open.
Although he couldn't replicate those efforts in Kuala Lumpur in the opening tournament of the season this year, Christie bounced back into form at the India Open last week. He carved out a hard-fought victory over Chou Tien Chen to make it to the last-four stage, where his run was ended by World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen.
At home in Jakarta this week, the 25-year-old needed three games to edge Nhat Nguyen 21-23, 21-11, 21-6 in the first round. His next match turned out to be a breezy outing as he swatted aside compatriot Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-16, 21-15.
Lakshya Sen thus has quite a task on his hands. The Indian didn't make the best of starts to the new season, bowing out in the first and second rounds, respectively, at the Malaysia Open and the India Open.
But he has gradually been finding his rhythm, as evident from his two wins this week. The 21-year-old's sublime performance against the Malaysia Open runner-up Kodai Naraoka would have boosted his confidence level and he needs to draw inspiration from it as he gears up to face Christie.
Indonesia Masters, Lakshya Sen vs Jonatan Christie: Date and time
Seventh seed Lakshya Sen and fourth seed Jonatan Christie will square off in the men's singles quarterfinals at the Indonesia Masters 2023 on Friday.
Date: January 27, 2023
Time: 1 pm local time/11.30 am IST
Venue: Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia
Indonesia Masters, Lakshya Sen vs Jonatan Christie: Where to watch & live streaming details
The tournament is being broadcast live in India on Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD channels from Thursday, January 26, 2023. The matches can also be streamed live on Voot Select.
Live streaming will be available on YouTube on BWF.TV as well. Live scores can also be followed on the tournament software.
