Antonsen Had to ‘Put Respect Aside’ Against Childhood Icon
It was his first encounter against a player he’d grown up admiring – and Anders Antonsen didn’t want to be overwhelmed by the occasion.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The Dane stayed true to his pre-match goals, keeping things under control as he held off four-time champion Lin Dan to enter the quarterfinals of the YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open 2019 yesterday.
“First time playing Lin Dan is a big occasion and I’ve been looking forward to playing him the last two-three years and I was wondering if it was ever going to happen,” said Antonsen, after the 21-14 21-11 victory yesterday. “I’m happy that I got to try it, and to win it is even better.
“I wasn’t humbled by the situation, I was pretty unimpressed and I was trying to just play my game and try to beat him, just put the respect away for a little bit.”