Lin Dan takes on unseeded Indonesian teenager Jonathan Christie in the Men's singles quarter-final of 2017 Malaysia Open at Jalan Stadium in Kuching on Friday.
The seventh seed made light work of Malaysia Masters champion Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-8, 21-13 in just 28 minutes in his R16 clash to book his place in the last-eight stages. On the other hand, Christie, the world number 22, edged past in-form Taiwanese shuttler Chou Tien Chen in marathon battle yesterday that extended to an hour and nine minutes.
After losing a hard-fought first game 21-23, the 19-year-old made a strong comeback to take the match 21-23, 21-17, 21-19 to stun the world number seven and set up his maiden match with the Chinese legend.
Christie should be brimming with confidence after ousting one of the top-10 players, who has been in rich vein of form. After winning the German Open, Chen went on to reach the semi-final of All England Championships following which he finished as runner-up at India Open but was unable to go past the resolute Indonesian yesterday.
Despite the morale-boosting win, Christie faces an uphill task against Lin, who has hit form after ending his title drought with a title at the Swiss Grand Prix Gold last month. Also, the 33-year-old, who is in the twilight of his career, would want to win the title in Malaysia, which has been the only major title that the Chinese shuttler has not won so far and thus will be ready to fend away the challenge from the Indonesian today.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports 2
Malaysia: Astro Supersport
Singapore: StarHub Sports
