Former Malaysian National Champion Jacky Kok celebrated the Chinese New Year with an upset over India’s Ayush Shetty in the first round of the Thailand Masters 2025 on Wednesday.
World No.101 Kok, a Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) dropout, defeated his higher-ranked opponent 21-15, 21-17 in just 39 minutes.
Once dubbed as the next Lee Chong Wei, the 22-year-old entered the main event after two qualifying rounds.
He will take on India’s Srikanth Kidambi in a stern test on Thursday.
Meanwhile, his fellow independent shuttler Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin progressed into the second round after overcoming India’s 79th-ranked M. Mithun 21-14, 21-13 in 40 minutes.
He will face China’s Wang Zheng Xing in the second round.
However, World No.53 Justin Hoh’s campaign ended after losing a three-game thriller 17-21, 21-12, 21-13 to Indonesia’s world No. 159 Moh Zaki Ubaidillah, a World Junior Championships bronze medalist.
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