A disgraceful exit for Hafiz Hashim from Men’s Singles event – Singapore Open 2013
It was an end of times for Muhammad Hafiz Hashim in Li Ning Singapore Open as he failed to clear the first hurdle and crashed out of the Men’s Singles qualifying round on Tuesday, June 18, 2013.
The veteran Malaysian campaigner faced a young and inexperienced Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth B but he could not employ his brilliance in the game and received a straight-set defeat. On the other hand, the spirited
Sai Praneeth ruled the court in this 26-minute tussle and wrapped this showdown with a favourable result of 21-13 and 21-15.
Things went out of Hashim’s hand when he blundered in the establishing rallies of the first set and allowed his competitor to gain a decent advantage on the points table. He failed to come out of this deficit
and kept trailing behind his rival in next couple of rallies.
Meanwhile, the inexperienced but talented Indian lad showed great maturity in his craft and strengthened his grip over the game. He bagged many valuable points in a row and finished first half of the set with
a respectable total of 11.
After the mid-game break, Sai Praneeth played with more precision and left his challenger far behind on the points table. At first, he mounted pressure by claiming many consecutive points and then he capitalised
that psychological edge to register a winning margin of 21-13.
With this win, his morale was touching the sky and he served the notice of his potential in very next game. This time, Sai Praneeth was bit sluggish in the beginning and his passive approach kept him close to
his competitor.
Though, Hafiz Hashim looked in commanding position in the beginning but then few back-to-back mistakes led him to a woeful defeat. Things became even worse when he lost few important points just before the interval.
The latter part of game also saw him struggling to revive his lost form but he failed to hit the mark till game point situation. Hashim kept chasing the opposing shuttler all the way to final moments and finally
gave up this futile chase after reading the decisive figure of 15-21.
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