2012 Syed Modi International: Arif Latif trounces Robin Gonansa in Men’s Singles opening round
Malaysia’s talented shuttler Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif had a perfect start of 2012 Syed Modi International India GPG as he eased into Men’s Singles second round on December 19, 2012.
He cast out Robin Gonansa of Singapore in a short-lived tussle which ended with final result of 21-14 and 21-10.
This encounter was staged at the local badminton complex of Lucknow, India and the Malaysian campaigner earned great deal of admiration by sealing a straight-set victory.
World Number 35 Arif Latif, who holds 7th spot in this tournament ranking, played with great precision and ruled the court throughout this crucial match.
He set the ball rolling without any delay and claimed four consecutive points immediately in the beginning of first set.
The Singaporean shuttler was not ready for such an intensive attack as he could not rise on his toes all the way to final moments.
Robin put a below performance in the establishing rallies and allowed his higher ranked rival to transform his initial advantage into an unassailable lead.
Meanwhile, Arif made best out of this situation and piled up a mountainous figure of 7. He carried this flow until half time and placed a decent margin of 11-6.
After the mid-game break, the Malaysian shuttler changed his tactics and played with an authoritative approach.
At first, he mounted pressure by unleashing a series of power packed strokes and then confounded Robin by clinching valuable points in a row.
Arif finished first set with an overwhelming score of 21-14 and started the following game with a psychological edge.
This first set win helped him a lot in the next set as he did not find any trouble to gain an early advantage and put his competitor under huge pressure.
The Singaporean player could not lift this burden and knelt down tamely. He kept on trailing behind his opponent and finished this set with a notable deficit of eleven points.
On the other hand, Arif played impeccable badminton and locked the honour with 21-10 score.
Now he is scheduled to meet Andre Marteen and win will take him into pre quarter-finals of 2012 Syed Modi International India GPG.
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