India Open: Saina in semis; Sugiarto stuns Lin Dan

Saina Nehwal sailed past Indonesia's Hana Ramadhini 21-15, 21-12 for her maiden entry into the semi-finals at the India Open Super Series, while giant-killer H S Prannoy and RMV Gurusaidutt went down fighting in the quarter-finals at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, in Delhi, on Friday.

Prannoy, who sent the top seed and world No 2 Jan Jorgensen of Denmark packing out of the tournament, conjured up hopes of another upset before losing to world No. 6 Viktor Axelsen 21-16, 9-21, 18-21 in 58 minutes.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Guru, despite playing a compact game initially, ran out of ideas and went down 21-15, 18-21, 13-21 to China's Xue Song.

"I was making lot of mistakes on the sideways, smashes were not accurate and I was not patient on the court. I am not happy with my performance today," Prannoy said.

Sugiarto stuns crowd favourite Lin Dan

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto earned the prized scalp of five-time World champion Lin Dan, beating the Chinese legend to reach the men’s singles semi-finals.

Former world No 3 Sugiarto scraped past the two-time Olympic champion 21-17, 15-21, 21-17 in a gruelling contest to silence the vociferous crowd, which chanted 'Lin Dan' 'Lin Dan' right through the match.

"You know who Lin Dan is. He is a legend in badminton. I had lost to him thrice so I had to come up with my best as I know Lin Dan's game," Sugiarto said, still feeling out of breath after battling for an hour and 18 minutes.

"He is a superstar wherever he goes. The crowd was backing him so I had to motivate myself and concentrate point after point. I am happy, this is one of my best wins," he added.

Talking about Lin Dan's game, Sugiarto said: "I think he has changed his game in the last few years. His game was more of speed power but he has more accuracy. For me I had to match his accuracy.

"I think at 15-all, Lin Dan lost his concentration. He made a lot of mistakes."

Asked what is the most difficult thing facing Lin Dan, he said: "He is extremely confident. So I had to come up with my best game.

"He is a special player. Sometimes he is at his best and sometimes he doesn't give his best."

Image: Saina Nehwal

Photograph: Getty Images