Sony stuns Lin Dan

It was a long time coming, but Sony Dwi Kuncoro finally tasted victory over Lin Dan after a gap of nine years.

The Indonesian’s stunning 21-17, 21-16 victory over the four-time world champion in the semi-finals of the SCG Thailand Open on Saturday snapped a nine-match losing streak against the Chinese superstar to bring their head-to-head to 9-2 in favour of Lin Dan.
The only previous time Sony (left), had defeated Lin Dan was at the 2003 Malaysia Open and since then, it has been one-way traffic.
Sony, who has suffered a catalogue of injuries in the last 24 months, will now take on unseeded Chinese youngster Yuekun Chen, who defeated compatriot Gao Huan 21-14, 21-15 in the other semi-final.
Despite Lin Dan’s stunning loss, China are still on course to dominate the tournament as they can potentially win four out of the five titles at stake in this Grand Prix Gold tournament.
The only final without a Chinese representative is the women’s title decider where top seed Saina Nehwal (below), will face second seed and three-time world junior champion Ratchanok Inthanon.
Saina prevented an all-Thailand final by beating third seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 24-22, 21-11 in 42 minutes. Ratchanok kept calm against 2010 world champion Wang Lin, taking the Chinese star out in straight games, winning 21-13, 21-19 in 38 minutes.
Wang Lin, who suffered a horrific knee injury just months after winning her world title, is still struggling to make her way up the world rankings and from No.1 in 2010, is currently ranked 105.
There was also another upset in the mixed doubles as Jiaming Tao-Tang Jinhua stunned top seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen in straight games.
The unseeded Chinese duo only needed 38 minutes to beat the Danes 21-16, 21-17. They will now play second seeds Sudket Prapakamol-Saralee Thoungthongkam, who beat Singapore’s Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Vanessa Neo 21-13, 22-20.
Saralee will also feature in the women’s doubles final after she and Lam Narissapat stunned top seeds Huan Xia-Tang Jinhua 21-15, 22-20. Their opponents in Sunday’s final are Cheng Shu-Pan Pan, who defeated Thailand’s Duanganong Aroonkesorn-Kunchala Voravichitchaikul 21-15, 21-17.
In the men’s doubles, Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan will face Malaysians Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari for the gold medal.