Sony pulls a surprise win over Lin Dan in Singapore Open

Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia celebrates his win against Lin Dan of China during their men's singles semi-final badminton match at the Singapore Open in Singapore on April 16, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / MOHD FYROL

PETALING JAYA: Indonesian shuttler Sony Dwi Kuncoro rolled back the years to storm into the Singapore Open final.

The 31-year-old Sony, who has been out of the Indonesian national team, stunned world No. 4 Lin Dan 21-10, 17-21, 22-20 in the semi-finals at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

It is an impressive win for Sony, the former world No. 4, as he couldn’t even get into the main draw of the Malaysian Open last week.

Sony, world No. 56 now, will be hunting for his second Singapore title since 2010 when he takes on South Korean Son Wan-ho in the final.

World No. 10 Wan-ho dumped Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long 22-20, 21-16 in the other semi-final.

In men’s doubles, China’s Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan checked into the final after beating world No. 1 Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong of South Korea 21-16, 23-21.

The world No. 4, who were runners-up in Singapore last year, will take on Japan’s unseeded pair of Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda for the title.

In women’s singles, Thai ace Ratchanok Intanon stayed on track for a hat-trick of titles after powering past Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 22-20.

Ratchanok, who won the Indian and Malaysian Opens, will be up against defending champion Sun Yu of China in the final.