On injured knee, Joshi beats his idol Hidayat

Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat was down with a stomach bug and was tiring in the second game but 18-year-old Pratul Joshi had his own problems as he was playing with an injured knee.

Both players were not at their best but still the young Indian impressed one and all with a 21-17, 21-12 first round win against the former World champion and the current World No.11. Joshi is currently ranked 400 in the world, and the huge difference in rankings made this special for the Indian even though it was against a half-fit opponent. However, the youngster's joy was short-lived when he lost in the second round to Hidayat's compatriot Siswanto 21-18, 16-21, 22-20.

However, Pratul said that the win against the fancied Hidayat, his idol, would give him a lot of confidence.

"I still cannot believe that I have defeated my hero. I have grown up watching his videos. When I was told that I'll play against him, I could not believe my ears. I cross-checked the schedule on the internet. I just told myself to give my 100 per cent," Pratul said.

In other key results, second seed Parupalli Kashyap defeated Vladimir Malkov of Russia 24-22, 16-21, 21-18 to enter the pre-quarterfinals while fourth seed Ajay Jayaram beat Sukamta Evert of Indonesia 21-9, 21-15. In the women's section, PV Sindhu reached the pre-quarters defeating Li Lian Yang of Malaysia 21-6, 21-12.

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