Prannoy defeated Ireland’s Scott Evans 22-20 21-18. (Source: Express File Photo)

One of the fastest improving men’s singles shuttlers from India — HS Prannoy, will fancy his chances against twice Olympic champion Lin Dan, a week after he accounted for World No. 2 Jan O Jorgensen in New Delhi.

Having hit a career-high of World No. 17 this week, Prannoy who meets the left-handed Chinese legend in Round 2 of the Malaysian Super Series, has the opportunity to emulate K Srikanth who came into the limelight after scalping Super Dan in China last year.

Dan, who’s not quite been his imposing former self after the knee injury from six months ago, has looked vulnerable recently, going down to Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto last week at Siri Fort. The two have never met prior to this clash, but it would rank as one of the most important matches of Prannoy’s career to test both his technical ability and fitness against one of the world’s finest players.

This last fortnight has been a top phase for India’s men’s singles shuttlers, with three Indians finding themselves in the Top 20. Prannoy’s is the latest addition to the pack and he boasts of wins in the last one year over Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Wing Ki Wong and Darren Liew, apart from the entire top crop of Indians.

He’s played the other Chinese Chen Long and Du Pengyu earlier, but is yet to register a win over them. He will start as an underdog in Thursday’s clash, but will back himself to put out a good show.

Kashyap shines

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap also advanced to the second round of the men’s singles. World No.13 Kashyap got the better of South Korean Lee Dong Keun 21-15, 11-21, 21-14 in an hour and 11 minutes contest, after Prannoy defeated Ireland’s Scott Evans 22-20, 21-18 in 40 minutes. Kashyap faces current World No 1 Chen Long.

Star Indian women’s doubles combo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa prevailed over Indonesians Devi Tika Permatasari and Keshya Nurvita Hanadia 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 in a hard-fought 48 minutes battle. However, Indian men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy went down 11-21, 17-21 to the Indonesian duo of Andrei Adistia and Hendra Aprida Gunawan in half an hour.

Saina, Srikanth advance

Earlier, newly-crowned India Open champions, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continued their rampaging international run, notching up contrasting victories to enter the second round of the $ 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier.

Set to be crowned the World No.1 on Thursday, Saina hardly broke a sweat as she dumped Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia 21-13, 21-16 in women’s singles after World No. 4 Srikanth edged out England’s Rajiv Ouseph 10-21, 21-15, 22-24 in men’s singles. The Olympic bronze-medallist, Saina will next take on a Chinese qualifier Yao Xue even as Srikanth set up a clash with World No.16 Tian Houwei of China tomorrow. Interestingly, Saina and Srikanth had clinched the China Open Super Series last year, before winning the India Super Series last Sunday.

Saina produced a dominating show in the first game not giving any chance to the Indonesian after opening a huge 12-4 lead early on. At 19-13, she grabbed two straight points to seal the first game. In the second, Maria managed a 4-2 lead but that evaporated soon as Saina took control, leading 10-6. The Indonesian clawed back at 10-10 till 15-15, before the girl from Hyderabad zoomed ahead once again. Srikanth had beaten Rajiv at the World Championship last year and he kept his record intact today as he grabbed control of the match early on before breaking off at 7-7 in the first game. He blasted 10 straight points to create a huge gulf which Rajiv could never breach as the Indian led 1-0.

Srikanth had the opportunity of sealing the match in the second game itself but he squandered a 6-0 early lead as Rajiv rode on a six-point burst at 13-12 to roar back into the contest. The decider was a rollercoaster ride as Srikanth once again brought his never-say-die attitude to the fore, fighting back from 3-7 and 11-8 down to eventually edge out the England shuttler.

Srikanth has been on a roll since winning the China Open Super Series Premier last November. He reached the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open, World Super Series Finals, made it to the finals of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold before winning the Swiss Open and India Super Series last month.

Saina too had been in red hot form, winning the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in January, reaching the All England final, before clinching the India Open in Delhi.

Lin Dan: Dip in form or permanent slide?

* While Lin Dan is still among the most formidable opponents in the international circuit, recent results suggest he isn’t as unbeatable as he once was.

* Over the last few months a number of players including K Srikanth, Tommy Sugiarto and teammate Chen Long have opened their accounts against him. The 32-year-old’s comprehensive 21-13, 21-12 loss to Chen Long in the All England is seen as a passing of the torch to the younger Chinese opponent.

* In October last year, Lin suffered an injury to his right knee at the Denmark Open. That has seen him moderate his relentlessly aggressive style. At the India open, Lin deployed the same style that he has in recent months – a style dominated by flicks and pushes, with only sparing use of his feared jump smash.

* Sugiarto too said Lin wasn’t the same player as before and wasn’t focusing as hard between points. “He is making far too many mistakes and he is not concentrating well enough. He is playing very well for a couple of points and slipping away immediately after,” he had said.