Angga Pratama, Ryan Agung deliver stunner in quarter-finals of Australian Open GP Gold
Indonesia’s male couple Angga Pratama-Ryan Agung earned a spot in the semi-finals of Australian Open GP Gold after delivering a stunner against Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata in the quarter-final on Friday, April 6 in Sydney.
An epic tussle of 62 minutes was full of drama as both teams took the match all the way to three games to put the final figures of 19-21, 21-17 and 21-19 on view.
The low ranked Indonesian couple put all they got to overcome their challengers while the Japanese stretched their arms and legs to prove their supremacy.
Second seeded pair of event Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata sweat hard in the very first game against their lower ranked opponents as they found their match in all departments of the game.
Both teams took the game to the next level by displaying top class court craft. They kept on chasing each other on the scoreboard and none of them made gap until the game point position.
At this breath-taking situation the Japanese couple scored two consecutive points and concluded the first set with a narrow margin of 21-19.
Opening game was just a curtain raiser as both contestants made the audience gasp with their staggering performance in the second set of the match.
World Number 18 duo Angga-Ryan played positive badminton and bagged some quick points in the beginning but their supremacy was short lived as their challengers caught them on the score board.
In later part of the set the Indonesian pair accelerated their speed and edged their rivals with a notable four-point lead. The second set belonged to Angga-Ryan with 21-17 score on the board.
The best part of the match was yet to come as both teams snapped each other’s heels in the decider.
World Number seven Japanese pair established a swift lead of 11-9 till the one-minute break but after the interval the Indonesians forged a good chemistry and equaled the score with 14-14 score position.
Men’s Doubles experts Angga-Ryan wrapped the show with a close margin of 21-19 in their favour.
This splendid victory placed them in top four teams and now they will meet their compatriot duo Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the semi-finals of Australian Open 2012.
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