Thailand Open 2023: Kiran George upsets World Rank 9 Shi Yu Qi

In a big upset, Indian youngster Kiran George defeated world rank 9 Shi Yu Qi of China in the round of 32 of the ongoing Thailand Open 2023 on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old played some brilliant badminton across two sets to defeat the Chinese shuttler 21-18, 22-20.

The match didn't start well for the Indian as he was down 2-8 in the opening game. He played some good rallies on the net forcing Shi in mistakes and trailing by 6-11 at the mid-game break.

Coming back, Kiran first equalized the game 16-16 and then went on to win the game 21-18.

The second game started in a similar fashion with Shi leading 6-0 in the early exchanges. The Indian shuttler showed immense toughness to come back and lead 7-6 at one point in time.

The game moved slowly with both players scoring one point till Shi Yu Qi accelerated to reach the score of 20-17.

George stunned the All England silver medalist with his strokeplay making the score 20-20. Then, he hit two winners to register a famous win.

Coming from the qualifying round to the main draw, Kiran displayed excellent form as he defeated fellow Indian Kartikey Gulshan Kumar 21-14, 21-18, followed by a convincing 21-10, 21-14 victory over Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin.

Kiran George will face Weng Hong Yang of China who defeated Kidambi Srikanth earlier in the day.