2012 Polish Open: Kieran Merrilees confounds Toby Penty in title match of Men’s Singles event
It was a day of double joy for Scotland as its Men’s Singles campaigner Kieran Merrilees also raised the country’s flag in the final round of the Polish Open on Sunday, September 2, 2012.
He surpassed Toby Penty of England by taking just 30 minutes on the court and locked the honour in a splendid manner.
This title match ended in just two games as Kieran wrapped the showdown by registering final result of 21-10 and 21-8.
The Scottish shuttler, who was fifth seeded player of the event, took some time to get on the right track but he never looked back after the required momentum.
On the other hand, Toby Penty, who was one of the top contenders in this International Series, put up a below par performance and knelt down in both segments of the showdown.
In the opening game, both shuttlers remained toe-to-toe in the beginning and neither of them could establish an early advantage.
The British player started his campaign with a couple of valuable points in a row but Kieran put his expedition to halt with a strong backlash.
They stayed close until 7-7 but Kieran made notable difference with four successive points and finished the first half of the set with a mountainous total of 11-7.
Later part of the game saw the Scottish campaigner in prime touch as he strengthened his grip with few uninterrupted rallies before 14-10.
He did not lose this rhythm and bagged seven points in a row to place an overwhelming margin of 21-10.
This first set loss broke the back of Toby as he could not lift the burden of this deficit and fell flat on his face.
Meanwhile, Kieran made the best out of his advantage and transformed his 1-0 lead into a splendid straight-set victory.
He set the foundation of his dominance by pushing his competitor on the back-foot with a 5-1 total and then strengthened his grip by putting a figure of 11-4 before the interval.
After the mid-game break, Kieran injected more intensity in his attack and pushed the opposing shuttler in every area of the court.
He maintained the upper hand until the last shot was played and clutched this international title with a convincing result of 21-8.
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