A spirited Kazushi Yamada stuns Shon Wan Ho in Men’s Singles first round of All England Open
Japan’s upcoming young shuttler Kazushi Yamada made his presence felt when he defeated his higher ranked and in-form challenger Shon Wan Ho of Korea in Men’s Singles first round of All England Open Premier Super Series on Wednesday, March 7, in England.
Yamada, who is positioned at number 27 in the world standings, delivered an impressive performance as he overpowered Wan Ho, who is currently World Number 18.
The higher ranked Korean, who was the favourite to win this match, could not live up to expectations as he lost the match to his spirited Japanese opponent in three games.
In the first set, Wan Ho was in wonderful control of rallies as he played on a different level and dictated the pace of game with his impressive craft.
On the other hand, Yamada could not produce better form in the first set and was far behind his Korean rival on the score board until the break.
After the interval, Wan Ho remained positive and continued his impressive play. However, Yamada committed unforced errors by executing hasty strokes and lost the set with a big margin of 14-21.
Nevertheless, Yamada stunned everyone by playing to his maximum potential and dictated the pace of rallies in the second set.
He was everywhere in the court and did not spare any room for Wan Ho to fight back in the game.
Yamada remained dominant throughout the opening half of second game and managed a reasonable lead.
After the break, the Japanese continued his roller-coaster progress in the match and bagged the second set with a tremendous 21-12 score on the board.
In the final set, Wan Ho played better badminton but could not dictate the pace of rallies as his Japanese opponent was quicker in taking the bird from all corners of the court.
Until the break, Yamada was slightly ahead of his rival.
After the break, the Japanese remained consistent in playing positive badminton and managed to win the second set with a decent margin of 21-15.
Yamada emerged as the winner of this three-set encounter with a 14-21, 21-12 and 21-15 margin on the score board.
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