Anup Sridhar's giant-killing run came to an end after the Indian succumbed to world number one Lin Dan in the men's singles quarter-finals at the world badminton championships on Friday.
Lin staged a strong assault in the opening game and led at 6-2, but the deficit was cut down in the second half of the game. They leveled at 12-12, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, 18-18, 19-19 and 20-20 before Lin ended the grudge fight 22-20.
In the second, Lin led from 2-1 and never looked back to wrap up the match 21-9.
"I enjoyed a big margin in the second game and I think this made Sridhar lose confidence," commented the Chinese.
Lin does not care who his opponent is: "Wherever they come from, India or Vietnam, I will just get well prepared and concentrate on every match.
"Actually there are many good players. They may not be well known but they are very tough. Like Sridhar, he beat Taufik and Chong Wei. It's not accidental."
Sridhar ousted Athens Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the second round and denied Malaysian's last hope at the men's singles by beating Muhd Hafiz Hashim in the third round.
"I don't think I recovered very well from yesterday's match. I think I just need to get back and recover. If I can do that, I think I have a good chance and beat anyone," said Sridhar.
"I'm really tired and it did affect me more than anything else because I just can not get to the defence and make many mistakes in the second game," he added.
On Lin's performance, Sridhar said: "He is number one in the world and played very well today. I had a very close first game but poor defence in the second. He is very fit."
Source: Xinhua
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