All England Open: Li Xuerui thrashes Wang Yihan to claim Women’s Singles title – Badminton news
China’s young shuttler Li Xuerui continued her winning run at international stage as she thrashed her compatriot Wang Yihan in the final contest and claimed Women’s Singles title at All England Open Premier Super Series 2012 in Birmingham, on Sunday, March
11.
It was the second back-to-back title for the World Number Five Xuerui in a period of two weeks as she also grabbed Women’s Singles title at the last week’s German Open Grand Prix Gold at Mulheim, Germany.
In the title match of All England Open, Xuerui proved that she is ready to rule the arena as she easily thrashed the World Number One Yihan, who was the top seed in Women’s Singles draw of the championship.
Xuerui displayed a wonderful show of top class badminton and entertained the packed indoor arena with her impressive skills in the court.
The lower ranked Xuerui consumed 45 minutes in the court to beat her top seeded opponent in straight games and proved that she is the best in business at the moment.
In the opening game, Yihan found a terrible start as she could not find a good rhythm and remained struggling against her lower ranked team-mate who was in tremendous form.
The seventh seed Xuerui played fast and positive badminton in the opening half and remained successful in getting a strong lead of 11-5 until the one-minute interval.
After the break, she continued snapping Yihan’s heel by playing to her maximum speed and did not spare any chance for her to fight back in the set.
Xuerui was completely in control and bagged the first set with a tremendous 21-13 score on the board.
In the second game, Yihan lifted up her level of play by accelerating her speed in all areas. She took the bird early and managed a remarkable lead of 11-2 until the one-minute interval.
After the break, Xuerui started to narrow the huge gap by playing positive badminton. She did not lose her focus at any stage of the game and also troubled her opponent by employing variations in her strokes.
The seventh seed Xuerui stunned her higher ranked rival by playing fast and positive badminton and levelled the score at 18-18.
She did not let Yihan to dominate the pace at this crucial stage and remained successful in winning the set with a tight margin of 21-19.
Xuerui won this title match in straight games with a superb 21-13 and 21-19 score on the board.
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