Six-time champion Lee Chong Wei takes on unseeded Indian shuttler HS Prannoy in the Men's singles R16 of 2017 Indonesia Open in Jakarta on Thursday.
Chong Wei was tested in the first round by local shutter Tommy Sugiarto, but the top seed came back from behind after being a game down to win the match 13-21, 21-10, 21-18. On the other hand, Prannoy eased past in-form Anthony Ginting 21-13, 21-18 in just 42 minutes to set up his third career meeting with the Malaysian legend.
Chong Wei, who is in pursuit of a record seventh title, is favourite to progress to the quarter-final, in which he is likely to face reigning Olympic champion Chen Long. Notably, the world number three has beaten Prannoy in all of their two earlier meetings, with the latest victory over the world number 29 coming at Denmark Open last year.
Prannoy, the 2016 Swiss Open winner, has struggled with injuries in the past and was out of action after the India Open due to a knee injury. He returned to action at the Badminton Asia Championships, but faced a first-round exit after loss to Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong. A straight games win over Ginting on Tuesday would have given the 24-year-old a lot of confidence, but it will an uphill task against Chong Wei later today.
The defending champion, who has already won the All England title and finished as runner-up at Malaysia Open, will want to finish the match without being troubled as he would want to go full throttle against Chen in the possible quarter-final tie on Friday.
