2012 Denmark Open: Misaki Matsutomo, Ayaka Takahashi shine in Women’s Doubles semi-final round
Japan’s Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi delivered a stunner in the semi-finals of Yonex Denmark Open as they trod into the final round on Saturday, October 20, 2012.
They sent World number one duo Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei packing by putting a favourable result of 21-15, 13-21 and 21-10.
However, this Women’s Doubles encounter remained in full swing for one hour and seven minutes as both teams put all in their possession to claim a spot in the title match.
The audience in local badminton arena of Odense, Denmark gave a big round of applause on every productive stroke.
Misaki and Ayaka, who certainly were not the hot favourites for this contest, proved all the predictions wrong with their stunning performance.
They locked the honour by prevailing in the opening and ending games whereas the second set saw them struggling a bit.
The Japanese female shuttlers got the required momentum with three consecutive points in the beginning and then never looked back. They mounted pressure by placing an indomitable figure of 11 before the interval.
After the one-minute break, the Chinese campaigners made every effort to catch their rivals but they had to give up this futile chase after reading 15-21 score on the board.
However, Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei did not lose heart and employed all of their brilliance in very next game.
This time they played with an authoritative approach and got into a commanding position with 11-7 margin.
Later part of the game saw them in a transformed character as they manipulated every loop-hole and confounded their challengers with amazing court craft.
The twosome of Misaki-Ayaka could not withstand this intensive campaign and lost second set with a huge 13-21 deficit.
This revised match score position brought life back to the contest and both contenders were in high spirits to pocket the final match point.
Unexpectedly, the decider proved a dead contest as the Japanese players showed elevated craft and established an unassailable lead of ten points in the first half.
They made best out of this advantage and sealed their victory with a striking knock of 21-11.
This win took them into the final round where they will be facing another Chinese duo of Ma Jin-Jinhua Tang.
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