Austrian International Challenge: Sameer Verma beats Stanislav Pukhov in Men’s Singles round-of-16
India’s in-form shuttler Sameer Verma stunned everyone as he reached into Men’s Singles quarter-final after beating Russia’s Stanislav Pukhov in the round-of-16 clash of Austrian International Challenge 2012 on Friday, February 24, in Austria.
Sameer started the tournament as a qualifier but has turned into a potential contender for the title as he has reached into the top-8 stage.
The in-form Indian overpowered his Russian opponent in a mouth-watering rubber-set contest and proved that his elevated performance in all previous matches was not a fluke.
Sameer started the opening game in a fast way as he played with aggression and dominated the pace of rallies.
On the other hand, Pukhov failed to respond effectively in the opening half and remained trailing far behind his rival on the score board.
In the concluding phase of first set, Sameer was on a completely different level as he missed no chance to bury the bird deep into his rival’s court and won the set with a remarkable 21-12 score on the board.
In the following set, Pukhov played with a different strategy as he employed his experience and started to keep the bird low in order to deal with the aggressive play of his Indian opponent.
On the other hand, Sameer failed to dominate the pace this time as his rival was quicker in all areas. He remained far behind at 6-11 until the one-minute interval.
After the break, the Russian remained positive whereas Sameer could not play positive game and lost the set with a one-sided 11-21 score on the board.
In the deciding game, both men pushed each other in all areas of the court and remained neck-to-neck in the opening half. No one could take a clear lead until the 60-second break.
After the interval, the fight again remained close as both men continued playing fast and positive badminton and reached at the ending phase while remaining equal.
They reached at the breath-taking stage of 23-23 when Sameer showed his brilliance as he played with extreme aggression and won the set with a 25-23 score on the board.
The Indian remained successful in winning this fabulous contest against Pukhov with a margin of 21-12, 11-21 and 25-23.
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