Austrian International Challenge: Sameer Verma stuns Michael Lahnsteiner in the first round
India’s young and talented shuttler Sameer Verma proved that he has plenty of fire in his belly when he stunned Austria’s Michael Lahnsteiner in Men’s Singles first round of the Austrian International Challenge 2012 on Thursday, February 23, in Austria.
The un-seeded Sameer, who participated in this tournament as a qualifier, delivered a sensational performance and defeated Lahnsteiner, who was the eighth seed in Men’s Singles draw of the event.
The spirited Indian showed his aggression and emerged as the winner against the higher ranked local shuttler in three games by working hard for 53 minutes in the court.
Sameer started the opening set in an impressive manner as he played with wonderful variations and kept his opponent under pressure in the opening half.
The Indian remained close in the first few rallies and managed to take a reasonable lead of 11-8 until the break.
After the break, Lahnsteiner tried his best to dominate the pace of rallies but failed to control his rival at any stage in the concluding half. Sameer bagged the first set with an emphatic fashion by a margin of 21-15.
In the following set, Sameer put up stunning show of aggressive game and remained in complete control of rallies. He did not let his higher ranked local opponent to level the score in the opening half and reached at 11-6.
After the break, he remained on track until the concluding phase of second set. However, he lost his focus at this stage and executed negative strokes and eventually lost the set with a 19-21 score on the board.
In the decider, both shuttlers played well in the starting rallies and reached at 7-7. At this stage, Sameer displayed surprising game by playing to his maximum speed.
He did not let his opponent to find a good flow and reached at 11-8 until the one-minute interval.
After the break, Sameer remained positive and continued his roller-coaster run in the match. He was everywhere in the court and took the bird early to maintain his domination in the game.
The young Indian played flawless badminton and won the second set with a one-sided score of 21-11. The overall result of this entertaining contest was 21-15, 19-21 and 21-11.
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