Indian shuttler H S Prannoy stunned London Olympics gold medallist and multiple-time world champion Lin Dan in a hard-fought match to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the World Championships here on Tuesday.
The unseeded Indian beat the highly-decorated Chinese, seeded 11th in the showpiece tournament, 21-11 13-21 21-7 in a second round match that lasted one hour and two minutes.
Sai Praneeth, too, moved to the third round after he defeated South Korean Lee Dong Keun 21—16, 21—15 in the second—round match of the BWF World Championships.
In the 56—minute long encounter, 26-year-old Praneeth won the match in two straight sets. World number 38 Keun did not look promising in the game as he lost the two consecutive games.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Prannoy will meet the winner of the second round match between top seed Kento Momota of Japan and Luis Enrique Penalver of Spain.
Prannoy completely dominated the first game and led all the way after 2-2. The Indian was ahead at 10-5 and then raced to 19-11 before pocketing it.
In five meetings between the two, Prannoy has emerged victorious thrice. The Chinese won in the last meeting, at the Australian Open in June.
Lin, who had also won gold in the 2008 Olympics, apart from seven World Championships titles, roared back in the second game. They were tied 5-5 but from there on, the Chinese legend did not give any chance to Prannoy as he easily won the second game to take the match to the decider.
Prannoy, however, was not going to be intimidated by the reputation of the former world number one. The Indian reserved the best for the last and just like the first game, Prannoy left Lin far behind after 4-4 and won the deciding game easily to wrap up the match.
In the women’s doubles, the Indian pair of Ashwini Ponappa N Sikki Reddy got a walkover from Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun in their opening match. They will face seventh seeded Chinese pair of Du Yue and LI Yin Hui in the second round.
21-7 GAME and MATCH, H. S. Prannoy! The 27-year-old beats Lin Dan 2-1 (21-11 13-21 21-7) to progress to the third round of the BWF Championships!
10-5 Four points in a row for H. S. Prannoy! The Indian has grabbed initiative of the deciding third game, but still has a lot of work to do to close this match out.
6-5 A very even game so far! H. S. Prannoy shot into a 4-1 lead before Lin Dan pulled level at 4-4. Prannoy has been aggressive early in the third game and is offering a sterner challenge for the Chinese.
THIRD GAME
13-21 Lin Dan takes the second game! A resurgent effort from the Chinese, who made the most of H. S. Prannoy's unforced errors early to get a foothold in the game. We have a deciding third game!
10-15 A five-point lead for Lin Dan! H. S. Prannoy has been unable to put two points together for much of the second game and left himself with a mountain to climb.
8-11 A three-point lead for Lin Dan at the mid-game break. The Chinese has regathered himself, while Prannoy's unforced errors have helped his cause.
5-7 Lin Dan mounting a comeback! H. S. Prannoy was ahead 5-2 but has lost five points in a row. Prannoy has made a series of unforced errors to allow the Chinese to put him under pressure.
SECOND GAME
21-11 First game to H. S. Prannoy! A relentless effort from the 27-year-old to go 1-0 up in the second-round match against Lin Dan. The Chinese has plenty of work ahead of him, with Prannoy looking to retain the momentum.
11-5 H. S. Prannoy has maintained his early-game dominance and takes a five-point lead into the mid-game break! The Indian lost the opening game of his first-round match against Eetu Heino before winning the next two games to win the match. Today, though, he's started well.
6-2 A four-point lead early on for H. S. Prannoy! From 2-1 down, the Indian shuttler has won five points in a row.
Here we go! H. S. Prannoy to serve.
H. S. Prannoy is set to take on Lin Dan in the second round of the BWF World Championships.
Women's singles results: Fitriani Fitriani and Ga Eun Kim emerge victorious in straight games! The former beats Yvonne Li 21-14 21-12, while Kim wins 21-18 21-14 against Polikarpova.
Women's singles: Fitriani Fitriani has won the first game 21-14 against Yvonne Li, while Ga Eun Kim edges K. Polikarpova 21-18.
We have women's singles action to get us underway. German Yvonne Li is up against Indonesia's Fitriani Fitriani, and in another match, Israel's K. Polikarpova faces Korea's Ga Eun Kim.
Preview
The Indian contingent made a resounding start to the Championships on Day 1 with B. Sai Praneeth, H. S. Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth emerging victorious in the men's singles action.
The women's doubles pair of Poorvisha S. Ram and Meghana Jakkampudi beat the Corleto Soto-Sotomayor pair 21-10 21-18 to progress to the second round.
Sai Praneeth and Prannoy are in singles action today, with M. R. Arjun and Ramachandran Shlok (men's doubles), Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy (women's doubles), Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy (men's doubles), Arun George and Sanyam Shukla (men's doubles), Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh (women's doubles) involved in doubles action.
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