Denmark Open: Srikant stuns Dan to set up quarter-final with Sameer

Odense: Defending champion Kidambi Srikant has defeated two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China 18-21, 21-17, 21-16 to enter the men’s singles quarter-finals here in the Denmark Open.

On Thursday night, World No six Indian took 1 hour and 3 minutes to register a thrilling win over Dan to set up a quarter-finals match with compatriot Sameer Verma on Friday.

Srikant lost first game 18-21, but he looked calm and composed throughout the match and staged a brilliant come back to beat the Chinese player after the gap of four years.

In 2014, he defeated the Chinese for the first time in his career in China Open final to win his maiden Super Series title.

In the second game, long rallies were the highlights of the game. Srikant took five consecutive points in this game to put pressure back on the Chinese.

In the decider, he took early lead and managed to maintain it, winning the game 21-16.

Earlier, in another men’s pre-quarter-finals, India’s Sameer Verma defeated Asian Games gold medallist Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 23-21, 6-21, 22-20.

Sameer took an hour and ten-minute to defeat his higher-ranked player.

After losing second game, Sameer put up a much better show in the decider to win the game. Christie managed to save three match points, however, Sameer managed to win the decider, entering quarter-finals of the tournament. (UNI)