Rasmus Gemke has advanced to the third round of the World Badminton Championships following a surprise victory.
On Wednesday morning (CET), the 29-year-old from Aarhus defeated the 12th-seeded Lin Chun-yi of Taiwan 13-21, 21-17, 21-11 after more than an hour of play in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
The victory is particularly sweet given that it was Lin who eliminated Gemke in the first round of last year's World Championships.
Ranked 28th in the world, Gemke is the second-highest-ranked Dane after Anders Antonsen, who holds the number four spot.
Following this surprise win, Gemke faces an even tougher challenge in the third round against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie.
Gemke struggled in the first set on Wednesday against the defending All England champion; a strong tailwind caused by the air conditioning system created difficulties for the Dane.
However, the match changed character after the change of ends, and from 5-8, he steadily pulled away from the Taiwanese player.
Gemke leveled the match at one set apiece, and when he subsequently turned a 0-3 deficit into an 11-8 lead in the third set—while playing on the difficult side of the court—a Danish upset looked increasingly likely.
The gap between the two players only widened as the match progressed; Gemke controlled the game and outplayed Lin.