The student of contemporary badminton could well draw a parallel for his beloved sport from tennis, where it has become difficult to nominate a Grand Slam major winner from outside the quartet of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, so comprehensively have these four fine players ruled the roost in recent times.

Well, those predictions need to be re-cast in view of the sensational opening-round 21-19, 22-24, 21-17 defeat of Malaysia’s three-time Olympic silver medallist and four-time All England champion, Lee Chong Wei, at the hands of the relatively unheralded Brice Leverdez of France, after 75 minutes of intense, edge-of-the-seat action at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

Leverdez, who trailed the Malaysian ace 1-7 in head-to-head career meetings, and had lost their most recent clash at the 2017 All England Super Series Premier in straight games, was full value for his success.

Sai Praneeth, seeded No 15, and sitting in the top segment of the bottom half of the draw, was an impressive 21-18, 21-17 winner against the dangerous Hong Kong player, Wei Nan, and will next run into Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.

The diminutive Indonesian, who occupies the 26th rung of the BWF ladder, has a 1-0 advantage over the Indian in career meetings, having beaten Praneeth in three games in the 2016 Thomas Cup finals.