Arundhati Pantawane beats Juan Gu in Women’s Singles opening round - 2011 Vietnam Open Grand Prix
India’s talented female shuttler, Arundhati Pantawane powered her way into the Women’s Singles second round after beating higher ranked, Juan Gu of Singapore in the opening round of the 2011 Vietnam Open Grand Prix, in Vietnam, on Wednesday, August 24.
The Indian stunned the Singaporean shuttler, who was the fifth seed in the Women’s Singles draw of the championship and proved herself as one of the main contestants for the title. She worked extremely hard for 53 minutes to beat Juan, who failed to stop
the progressive run of the Indian.
The first set of the match was absolutely wonderful when both females remained toe-to-toe until the end of the first part of the opening set, where Arundhati was leading with a narrow margin of 11-9. After the one-minute break, the Singaporean accelerated
her speed in the rear court area to hit powerful smashes. However, Arundhati played superb defensive shots coupled with spinning net strokes which helped her in clinching the first game with a margin of 21-18, in 22 minutes.
The second game of this fight was a complete different story as the Singaporean changed her strategy and played with maximum aggression. Arundhati could not continue her attacking game as her opponent was keeping the bird low. The Indian failed to break
the momentum of her seeded rival and lost the game with a big margin of 12-21, in just 15 minutes.
The Indian played with variation in the third set which helped her in getting a good lead in the opening half of game. Arundhati exhibited positive badminton and avoided unforced errors by remaining focused in the game. Juan made many mistakes in the start
as she was too fast in some of her movements which disturbed her smooth run in the court.
The Indian dictated the pace of the rallies in the major part of the third set and won it with the big difference of 21-14, in 16 minutes. This remarkable three-set battle ended with the victory of the Indian by a margin of 21-18, 12-21 and 21-14.
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