Arundhati Pantawane defeats Hsiao Huan Chen in qualifying-round match of Singapore Open Super Series
Talented Indian female shuttler, Arundhati Pantawane, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao Huan Chen, in the Women’s Singles qualifying-round match in the 2011 Singapore Open Super Series, at Singapore City, on Tuesday, June 14.
Arundhati, who has been struggling hard for the last few months to gain back her form, worked well in this three-set match which took 52 minutes of hard labour. Both players put up a great show of top-class badminton in the encounter.
The Indian shuttler, who is the World Number 169 in the international rankings, failed to find her momentum in the first game where she struggled really hard to pick the bird early from all areas. She threw away many opportunities of scoring points, which
helped Hsiao to build a considerable gap of 11-8 in the first-half.
After the break, Arundhati failed to match the perfection of the Taipei shuttler, who was playing a focused game. Due to her shaky and negative play, the Indian lost the first set to Hsiao with a three-point difference of 18-21, in 17 minutes.
In the second set, Arundhati bounced back in the match by employing a different strategy. She changed her tactics and waited for the opportunity to hit powerful smashes. Hsiao was helpless against the powerful strokes of her opponent, who was not missing
any chance of smashing the bird down to the side lines of the court. Arundhati clinched the second game by 21-17 in 16 minutes and levelled the match.
The turnaround in the second set helped Arundhati to gain confidence and remain close to her challenger in the deciding set, where no shuttler could manage a clear lead. The match entered into the concluding part, where the Indian worked well by becoming
sharp at the net.
Arundhati played some impressive strokes at the end of the third game and was successful in winning the set by a narrow difference of 21-19, in 19 minutes. This qualifying-round fight took three-sets of 52 minutes, in which the Indian emerged victorious
with a score of 18-21, 21-17 and 21-19.
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