Kiran George upsets Shi Yuqi at Thailand Open Super 500

Wins 21-18, 22-20 against the top Chinese

India's Kiran George beat Chinese star Shi Yuqi, winning 21-18, 22-20 at the Thailand Open. (Image: Twitter/BAIMedia)

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Bangalore’s upcoming shuttler Kiran George caused a stir when he upset Chinese star Shi Yuqi, winning 21-18, 22-20. Twice he came from trailing positions to score a sensational win against the top Chinese at the clutch at the Thailand Open.

“The idea was to hang in there, stick it out and force Shi Yuqi to make mistakes, make him work for the points,” coach Sagar Chopda said describing the upset victory.

Kiran was 11-6 down in the opener but looked ready for Yuqi’s deep smashes. Staying in the rallies, he would go from 13-16 down to 18-16 up on the back of a 5-point flurry in the opener, to rattle the Chinese.

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It’s when Yuqi got desperate to close out and committed errors, giving Kiran the opener 21-18.

UPSET ALERT 🚨🤩😍

Kiran George gets the better of World Championships 🥈 medallist, WR-9 Shi Yu Qi 🇨🇳 in straight games 21-18, 22-20 to enter pre-quarters 🔥

Well done champ, way to go! 🤜🤛

📸: @badmintonphoto #ThailandOpen2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton pic.twitter.com/KH5w0EMKcr

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) May 31, 2023

Kiran would start the second with a 6-0 lead, but Yuqi found his length from the drifty side and levelled at 7-6. Kiran having played two extra qualification matches had a better measure of the lengths to play in the big hall. Scores stayed neck to neck till 15-15, before Yuqi pulled away to 20-17.

Kiran though was ready to grind it out, and lifted everything at the net, as he prolonged the rallies giving himself a chance, and drawing out errors from the Chinese who wasn’t hitting hard smashes, just deep ones along with his drops. Having rattled Yuqi, Kiran went on a 5-point run to take the match 21-18, 22-20.

Last 3 points, Kiran was alert at the net, and ready for Yuqi’s counter-dribbles with his tap, as he won the shock victory, after being shaky in qualifying.

“He’s had a tough patch not winning anything since Orissa Open Super 100. He was low on confidence last 4-5 months. But yesterday after qualifying, he said kal ka match bas nikaalna hai. I told him be ready for his deep smashes,” Chopda said.