HS Prannoy stuns two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in Indonesia Open badminton first round
July 4, 2018
Eighth seed HS Prannoy got his campaign off to a superb start after stunning two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China at the $1.25 million Indonesia Open at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta on Tuesday.
World No.13 Prannoy needed just a minute less than an hour to move past the five-time World Champion 21-15, 9-21, 21-14. This was the Indian shuttler’s second win in three outings against the legendary Chinese. However, it was their first meeting in almost three years.
“Really happy. Had a couple of months off (from the circuit) so getting back to the tournament was great for me because I hardly had two weeks practice. Having a big win against Lin Dan where the conditions were really tough, especially the drifts, the way I played the first and third games was good from my side, especially the crucial juncture in the third game. I am really happy that I could get that big win and looking forward to the second round,” said Prannoy.
In the men’s singles second round, Prannoy will face Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei, who moved past B Sai Praneeth 21-10, 21-13 in 34 minutes a short while later. This was World No.15 Wang’s third win in as many meetings against the Indian World No.20.
However, Prannoy and Wang have a 2-2 record against each other but significantly the Indian won their only meeting this year in April at the Badminton Asia Championships.
World No.18 Sameer Verma also entered the second round with a 21-9, 12-21, 22-20 victory in an hour and nine minutes against Danish Rasmus Gemke in their first ever career meeting.
Saina advances
Saina Nehwal too made it into the women’s singles second round with a straight games win over Indonesian Dinar Dyah Ayustine. The Olympic bronze medallist needed just 35 minutes to win 21-12, 21-12.
But in women’s doubles, Indonesian pair of Agatha Imanuela and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti got the better of Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram 21-11, 21-18 in 32 minutes. Later, Japanese duo of Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe beat Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 21-8, 21-15 in half an hour in men’s doubles.
