Jakarta: With the backing of home crowd, Indonesia’s unseeded Jonatan Christie pulled off a huge upset against China’s two time Olympic champion Lin Dan in the second round of the BCA Indonesia Open badminton championship at Bung Karno Indoor Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.
Christie was ecstatic after clinching his second round match against his own idol 21-12, 21-12 in 36 minutes.
Christie had the upper hand on Thursday as Lin Dan did not appear to play in front of hostile crowds at the Senayan stadium, which may have affected his performance.
“The crowd really kept me going and my spirit remained high throughout the whole match,” said Christie.
After the match, Lin Dan who had never won the Indonesia Open title in his 15 years of professional badminton career, refused to attend a press conference and walked directly toward the locker room.
According to a Badminton World Federation (BWF) rule, player will receive a USD $250 fine if they refused to attend a press conference and answer questions from journalists.
The young Indonesian will play Danish player Jan O. Jorgensen on Friday, who defeated Hong Kong’s Vincent Wong Wing Ki in other second round match.
In another upset, China’s Wang Zhengming swept past No. 7 seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 22-20, 21-11 and Englishman Rajiv Ouseph beat Hong Kong’s Wei Nan 11-21, 26-24, 21-15.
In women’s singles, Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying got the better of No. 3 seed Li Xuerui 21-18, 21-18, to set up a quarter-final match against Nozomi Okuhara on Friday.
