Indian badminton player H.S. Prannoy defeated China's Lin Dan in the second round of the men's singles event in the BWF Championships on Tuesday, marking one of the biggest upsets in the tournament so far.
Prannoy stunned 11th seeded Lin Dan 21-11 13-21 21-7 in the match that lasted a little over an hour.
The 30th-ranked Indian clinched the first game 21-11 without much difficulty. However, Lin Dan fought back strongly in the second to win it 13-21. In the decider, Prannoy didn't allow the five-time champion to take advantage as he took over the game from the beginning and clinched it 21-7 to move into the third round.
Prannoy has earlier defeated the badminton legend on two occasions―the Indonesia Open in 2018 (21-15, 9-21, 21-14) and French Open in 2015 (14-21, 21-11, 21-17). With today's win, he became the first Indian to beat Lin Dan thrice.
Lin Dan had got the better of Prannoy at this year's Australian Open when he beat the Indian in straight games (21-18, 21-19).
In the first round of the BWF Championships, Prannoy had come from behind to beat 93rd-ranked Eetu Heino of Finland 17-21, 21-10, 21-11.
