Australian Open: Sho Sasaki ends the winning run of Taufik Hidayat in Men’s Singles quarter-final
Japan’s in-form shuttler Sho Sasaki proved his worth as he ended the winning run of Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat in Men’s Singles quarter-final at the Australian Open Grand Prix Gold 2012 on Friday, April 6, in Australia.
The world Number Six Sasaki, who is seeded at number two in Australian Open, was too strong for Taufik, who has been placed at number 11 in the world standings.
The Japanese wrapped up the opening set without facing any problem. However, he had to work hard in the second set and ended it with a narrow margin. He won the match in straight sets in 42 minutes.
On the other hand, Taufik failed to live up to expectations as he could not play to his maximum potential and crashed out without taking any game from Sasaki.
In the opening set, Sasaki got an upper hand over Taufik who was a little slower in the court. The Japanese maintained his speed and remained successful in taking an incredible lead against his experienced Indonesian opponent by reaching at 11-6.
Taufik could not produce killing shots as he was lacking his usual impressive touch in his strokes and remained struggling to find a good rhythm.
After the interval, Sasaki continued playing positive badminton and remained successful in stretching his lead. He was on track in the whole opening game and won it with an impressive margin of 21-11.
In the second set, Taufik played better game this time as he played with precision and remained close to his higher ranked Japanese opponent.
Both men put up good show this time and were close until the mid-game interval in the second set.
The score continued in the similar fashion and reached at the ending stage. Taufik tried to employ his experience at this stage and played with variations but failed to take advantage as Sasaki was quicker in taking the bird.
Sasaki was composed in this crucial stage and bagged the set with a tight 22-20 score on the board.
The Japanese wrapped up this quarter-final contest with a remarkable margin of 21-11 and 22-20.
In the semi-final, Sasaki will take on Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh who overpowered Indonesia’s Alamsyah Yunus in another quarter-final encounter.
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