2011 Vietnam Open Grand Prix: Muhammad Hafiz Hashim powers his way into Men’s Singles quarter-final
Malaysia’s veteran shuttler, Hafiz Muhammad Hashim powered his way into the Men’s Singles quarter-final after thrashing his team-mate, Chong Wei Feng in the round-of-16 battle at the 2011 Vietnam Open Grand Prix in Vietnam, on Thursday, August 25.
Hafiz Hashim, who is now an independent shuttler and is ranked at Number 53 in the Men’s Singles world rankings, played high-class badminton in the pre-quarter-final and won the fight in straight games by taming his younger compatriot, who failed to tackle
the experience of his senior opponent.
Hafiz Hashim, who is seeded at number 8 in the Men’s Singles draw of the event, spent only 37 minutes to surge into the quarter-final stage.
The higher ranked Hafiz Hashim started his campaign against Wei Feng in a positive and composed manner. He was playing safe strokes to avoid unforced errors and forced his opponent to work hard in every corner of the court. Wei Feng remained struggling in
hitting the bird hard as his rival was not sparing any chance for him to dominate the rallies. Until the interval, Hafiz Hashim was leading with a good difference of 11-7.
In the following part of the opening set, Wei Feng accelerated his speed to reduce the difference but his challenger was playing with anticipation. Hafiz Hashim displayed his wonderful skills which helped him in dominating the pace of the game and he eventually
won the opening set by a 21-14 margin, in 17 minutes.
The second set was interesting as Wei Feng played attacking badminton this time. He became fast at the net to put pressure on his rival and remained close at 9-11 until the one-minute break. After the break, Hashim changed his tactics and started to push
the bird to keep Wei Feng away from the net.
This strategy worked really well for Hafiz Hashim and he remained successful in winning the set by remaining focused in the game with a difference of 21-17, in 20 minutes. The concluding result of this round-of-16 contest was 21-14 and 21-17.
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