India's HS Prannoy defeated five-time World Champion Lin Dan in the second round of the ongoing Badminton World Championships in Basel, Switzerland on Tuesday.
Prannoy beat the former world no.1 21-11, 13-21, 21-7 in 62 minutes and will face current world no.1 and defending champion Kento Momota in the third round.
With this loss, two-time Olympic champion Lin -- whose five singles titles are also the most in the history of the tournament -- suffered his earliest exit at the World Championships in 12 appearances. His previous earliest losses came in third round in 2003 and 2018.
The Indian, currently ranked 30th in the world, now has a head-to-head record of 3-2 against Lin, ranked 17th. His previous wins against the latter came at the Indonesia Open in 2018 and the French Open in 2015.
GIANTKILLER!��@PRANNOYHSPRI outclasses the 2 times Olympic Champion 2⃣1⃣-1⃣1⃣,1⃣3⃣-2⃣1⃣,2⃣1⃣-7⃣ to enter the pre quarters of #BWFBadmintonWorldChampionships2019.
Way to go Champ! Let's go for the kill. ����#IndiaontheRise #badmitnon pic.twitter.com/eXSk9WW7Og
- BAI Media (@BAI_Media) August 20, 2019
Later in the day, B Sai Praneeth beat South Korea's Lee Dong Keun 21-16, 21-15 to enter the third round of the tournament in a match lasting 56 minutes. He will next meet World no. 8 Anthony Ginting, who defeated England's Toby Penty in the round of 32.
With this win, Praneeth, currently ranked 19th in the world, has now reached the round-of-16 at the Worlds for the third year in succession. He had made the quarterfinals in the last edition, where he lost to Momota, who went on to win the title.