2012 China Masters: A quarter-final round entry for Songphon Anugritayawon, Sudket Prapakamol
Men’s Doubles duo Songphon Anugritayawon-Sudket Prapakamol of Thailand became the first quarter-finalist of Li Ning China Masters after beating Peng Soon Chan-Jian Guo Ong on September 12, 2012.
Though, this 42-minute tussle concluded in just two games but still the victorious duo had to sweat hard to read a favourable result of 21-18 and 21-18.
The Malaysian campaigners played their heart out but could not live up to the expectations of their supporters in the local badminton arena of Changzhou, China.
Meanwhile, Songphon and Sudket showed superb coordination and sealed a splendid straight-set victory.
They started the ball rolling straight away in the beginning of first set and gained an early advantage. They established a strong grip with a three-point difference in the preliminary stage.
Next couple of rallies saw them making some mistakes which allowed their rivals to put a decent total of 8-5 but then the Thai shuttlers reinstated their dominance with a strong reply.
They gathered a few back-to-back points and finished the first half of the set with a respectable score position of 11-9.
Later part of the game was filled with lot of action as both teams pushed each other in all areas of the court. They remained close on points table until last shot was played.
In third quarter of the set, they were standing equal with 16-16 when Songphon and Sudket made swift progress and left their opponents far behind by registering 21-18 margin on the board.
The second set was also played in the same manner as the twosome of Peng Soon-Jian Guo thundered in the beginning but blundered in crucial moments and crashed out of the event.
In first half of the set, the Malaysian players controlled the overall pace of the rallies and kept the opposing team under their influence until 11-6.
After the mid-game break, they committed some unforced errors and gave their rivals a counter-attack opportunity.
Songphon and Sudket did not fritter away this chance and bagged valuable points to level the score at 13-13.
The Thai players carried this flow and prevailed in six uninterrupted rallies which ultimately helped them to sweep the table with a concluding total of 21-18.
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