2013 India Open: Xiaolong Liu, Zihan Qiu take China to Men’s Doubles semi-final round
China’s Men’s Doubles team Xiaolong Liu-Zihan Qiu performed exceedingly well in the quarter-finals of Yonex Sunrise India Open and gained access to the semi-final round on April 26, 2013.
They were up against the top seeded Danish duo Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen and they won this 43-minute tussle with an impressive result of 21-19 and 21-19.
The Chinese pair, who was underrated earlier in this tournament, alarmed every contestant by sealing this splendid straight-set victory.
Xiaolong and Zihan did not show any sign of bewilderment in front of the higher ranked team. They started their campaign in perfect manner and pocketed many points without any interruption.
This initial lead helped them to move forward at a steady pace and maintain a significant difference on the points table.
Though, the twosome of Mathias and Carsten also showed some class and prevailed in some consecutive rallies but their inconsistent performance was not enough to tip the scale in their favour.
Meanwhile, the Chinese duo relished full benefits of the opposing duo’s blunders and established a strong grip over the game.
Xiaolong and Zihan finished first half of the set with a respectable total and then capitalised this psychological edge in latter part of the game.
Though, they also blundered in third quarter of the set but that did not weaken their grip. They showed strong character in pressure situation and wrapped this segment of showdown with 21-19 score.
The second set of the match started with few back-to-back gruelling rallies as the Danish campaigners reacted like wounded tigers whereas the Chinese shuttlers were trying to maintain their upper hand.
Both teams remained toe-to-toe in the establishing rallies and kept the audience glued to their chair with a mesmerising show of skills.
The game kept swinging between them until half time and both pairs put all they had to tip the scale in their favour.
After the mid-game break, the twosome of Xiaolong and Zihan displayed better finishing skills and made a notable difference.
They placed a tight yet decisive figure of 21-19 and sealed their splendid straight-set victory. With this success, they became one of the top four teams of 2013 India Open.
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