2012 China Masters: An early exit for Hafiz Hashim from Men’s Singles event – Badminton News
It was a disappointing start of the Li Ning China Masters for Malaysia as its prime campaigner Muhammad Hafiz Hashim could not live up to his billing and crashed out of the event on September 12, 2012.
World Number 31 shuttler failed to overcome the young but talented Indian player, R. M. V. Gurusaidutt and surrendered after reading 21-18, 19-21 and 21-13 score on the board.
This Men’s Singles showdown remained in full swing for 60 minutes and both contenders kept the audience intact in local badminton arena of Changzhou in China.
The Malaysian player, who was expected to have a smooth ride to the knock out rounds of this Super Series, struggled in the beginning to read his rival’s game.
Hafiz could not gain a permanent lead due to his fluctuated performance and this led him to a woeful defeat.
In the first half of the set, he kick-started his campaign with 5-3 total but lost focus in next couple of rallies which allowed the opposing shuttler to narrow the gap.
Though, he managed to place a decent total of 11 at half time and moved forward at a steady pace until the third quarter of the set but then a few back-to-back mistakes brought him down.
Gurusaidutt did not squander this opportunity and bagged seven consecutive points to put a favourable margin of 21-18.
However, Hafiz saved some honour by pocketing the second match point on merit. This time he proved himself a late bloomer and avoided a straight-set defeat.
Initially, the Indian shuttler relished full benefits of his early advantage and ruled the court until mid-game break.
After the interval, the Malaysian campaigner showed a transformed character and tipped the scale in his favour with an indomitable score position of 17-13. He capitalised this lead and swept the table with an overwhelming total of 21-19.
The decider turned into a one-sided affair as Gurusaidutt dazzled the opposing shuttler with a lustrous performance.
He established the upper hand immediately and maintained his dominance until the last shot was played.
He got into commanding position with 11-8 and then sent Hafiz Hashim packing by registering 21-13 margin.
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