Lin Dan out of India Open; Saina in semis

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 27

Badminton history was written on Friday at the Siri Fort Complex as Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia pulled off a monumental upset beating five-time World champion Lin Dan in the quarterfinals of the India Open Super Series badminton tournament.

The eighth seed and World No.10, Sugiarto, recovered after dropping the second game to World No.3 'Super' Dan for an incredible 21-17 15-21 21-17 victory in the $275,000 event.

The crowd, which had come to see two-time Olympic champion Dan , was stunned into silence as the legendary Chinese player walked off the court with a deadpan expression after losing the quarter. Dan did not come for the mandatory media interaction too at the 'Mixed Zone' after his shocking defeat as he avoided the shutterbugs to leave the arena in a jiffy.

Dan had rarely looked in trouble during his run to the last-eight stage and he again looked at ease with her powerful smashes in the first few rallies of the opening game, which proved too much for the tenacious Sugiarto.

However, the Indonesian was undeterred and came out positively to make the third seed Dan move all over the court with his cleverly-placed shots and pocket the first game. In the second, Dan responded by taking the attack to his opponent who was apparently finding it hard to hold his nerve. Sugiarto began to misfire more regularly, with the Chinese superstar levelling the contest with a delectable drop shot at the net.

The decider saw Dan making many unforced errors; he just didn’t look his usual self. His smashes were not powerful, drop shots not accurate and cross-court slices went wide.

Sugiarto fell on the court in delight when Dan planted his shot into the net. It was the first time that Dan was stretched to three games in this Super Series event.

“This has been my best performance till now as I have played against Lin Dan thrice before but had never won,” said an elated Sugiarto.