HS Prannoy stuns Lin Dan to advance in World Championships

Basel (Switzerland), Aug. 20 (IANS): World No 30 H.S. Prannoy, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a stomach problem, on Tuesday registered one of his biggest upsets in recent times as he beat five-time champion Lin Dan of China to advance to the third round of the ongoing World Championships.

Prannoy,who has a reputation of producing big upsets when on song, defeated 11th seeded Dan 21-11, 13-21, 21-7 in a match that lasted for 62 minutes.

The World No. 30 didn’t break much sweat in the first game and won it rather easily. The Chinese legend came back strongly in the second game and showed his true class. He didn’t allow Prannoy to take any advantage and won the game 21-13.

However, in the decider, Prannoy took the lead from the very beginning and made sure he didn’t let the opportunity slip of upsetting the five-time champion. At interval of the third game, Prannoy had a six-point lead which he extended to 21-7 to seal the match and progress through to the next round.

Prannoy had earlier defeated Lin Dan at the 2018 Indonesia Open and the 2015 French Open and now leads the head-to-head race at 3-2.

In the first round, Prannoy had come from behind to beat 93rd-ranked Eetu Heino of Finland 17-21, 21-10, 21-11 and set up a clash against World No. 17 Dan.