PETALING JAYA: Women's singles shuttler K. Letshanaa will need something extraordinary to end her quarter-final drought at the Korean Open as she faces the daunting task of taking on world No. 1 An Se-young on Thursday (Nov 5).
Letshanaa secured her place in the second round after beating Thailand's Tonrug Saeheng 21-17, 21-18 in 47 minutes while Se-young brushed aside Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova 21-6, 21-8 in the opening round on Wednesday (Nov 4) at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu.
Letshanaa has struggled to make an impact in recent months, having failed to reach the quarter-finals in nine consecutive tournaments since her last appearance in the last eight at the Malaysian Masters in May.
And her chances of ending that barren run appear slim against the Korean star, who has been in a class of her own this season.
Se-young is chasing her 11th title of the year on home soil, a feat that would see her match her remarkable achievement from last season.
The two-time world champion has also been almost unstoppable, with her last defeat coming against China's Wang Zhiyi in the All-England final in March.
Letshanaa has yet to find a way past Se-young, having lost all four of their previous meetings.
Two of those defeats came this year, first at the Asian Team Championships in Qingdao in February and again in the women's team event at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya in September.
Earlier, Letshanaa's teammate Wong Ling Ching saw her campaign come to an early end after suffering a narrow 17-21, 23-21, 20-22 defeat to Indonesia's Thalita Ramadhani in the opening round.
