All England Open: Wang Yihan topples Liu Xin to occupy her berth in quarter-final – Badminton news
China’s top seed Wang Yihan lived up to expectations as she easily occupied her berth into the Women’s Singles quarter-final after taming her compatriot Liu Xin in round-of-16 match at All England Open Premier Super Series 2012 in Birmingham, on Thursday,
March 8.
Yihan, who is World Number One at the moment and also the top seed in Women’s Singles main draw of the tournament, showed her elevated skills and crushed Liu who has been positioned at number 13 in the world.
The higher ranked Yihan did not waste much time in court as she consumed just 27 minutes to give her younger team-mate a severe lesson.
On the other hand, Liu could not show her brilliance as she failed to break the rhythm of her higher ranked compatriot in the whole match and lost it without taking any set.
Right from the initial stage of first game, the top seed remained in wonderful control as she dictated the pace of rallies and manipulated all loopholes of her lower ranked rival.
She played with precision and did not miss any chance to stretch her lead over Liu, who was completely confused in the court.
Until the break in the first set, Yihan got a strong position by taking a comfortable lead of 11-6.
After the break, the World Number One continued snapping her opponent’s heel by playing fast badminton and ended the set with a tremendous 21-13 score on the board.
In the second set, Liu played better badminton as she executed a few aggressive strokes and remained equal to her rival until the score reached at 4-4.
At this stage, Yihan took over the control and started to dictate the pace. She executed wonderful spinning net shots coupled with deceptive pushes and managed to reach at 11-6 until the break.
After the interval, Yihan continued her roller-coaster performance in the match and maintained pressure on her nervous opponent.
She did not face any trouble in the concluding half of second set and took it with a superb margin of 21-12.
The top seed won this Women’s Singles round-of-16 battle in straight sets with an impressive 21-13 and 21-12 score on the board.
In the quarter-final contest, Yihan will take on Denmark’s Tine Baun who won her pre-quarter-final battle against Ai Goto of Japan.
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