Aiying Xing beats Nozomi Okuhara in epic quarter-final contest at Malaysia Open GP Gold
Singapore’s Aiying Xing showed her remarkable skills and registered a thrilling victory over Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in an epic battle at Women’s Singles quarter-final of Malaysia Open GP Gold 2012 in Malaysia, on Friday, May 4.
Xing has been playing top quality badminton in her all matches in Malaysia Open and remained on track in the quarter-final as well.
However, the Singaporean had to work extra hard against Nozomi in the quarter-final fight and emerged as the winner in rubber games with a tight margin on the score board.
On the other hand, Nozomi played tremendous game in the entire battle but remained unlucky in the ending points of final set and lost the competition with a respectable margin.
In the opening set, Xing dominated the game from starting points and did not allow her Japanese opponent to take charge of rallies as she played controlled shots without making errors.
In the meanwhile, Nozomi tried to find her rhythm but failed as her Singaporean opponent was playing with variations in her shots.
Until the end of first half, Xing was leading the set with a superb margin of 11-5.
After the break, the Singaporean continued her killing run in the court as she did not let her Japanese rival to level the score.
Xing remained successful in taking the opening game of this quarter-final battle with a 21-17 score on the board.
In the second game, Xing played with the same pace and took an early lead. However, she could not stop her rival from levelling the score at the opening stage.
Until the one-minute break, the score was tight as both ladies failed to build a comfortable gap.
After the break, the Japanese managed a wonderful lead but failed to maintain it as Xing levelled the score at 18-18.
Both shuttlers were at 20-20 when Xing lost her control over the pace and also lost the game with a 20-22 score on the board.
In the deciding set, the Japanese remained ahead of Xing in the opening half but failed to remain in control as the Singaporean changed her game plan and managed to take the game with a close margin of 21-18.
Xing won this thrilling battle in 68 minutes with a narrow 21-17, 20-22 and 21-18 margin on the board.
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