Badminton Asia Championships: Li Han overpowers Nozomi Okuhara in Women’s Singles first round
China’s upcoming player Li Han showed her impressive craft when she overpowered Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in Women’s Singles first round at the Badminton Asia Championships 2012 in China, on Wednesday, April 18.
The un-seeded Chinese shuttler, who is in her prime form, proved her mettle by showing by putting up a wonderful play. She ousted her experienced Japanese opponent in a thrilling fashion.
On the other hand, Nozomi could not live up to expectations as she was shocked with the elevated play of the young Chinese and crashed out in the opening round of Asia Championships.
In the opening set, Han took an early lead by playing remarkable badminton as her rival could not play positive badminton.
In the meanwhile, Nozomi failed to match the speed of her opponent and could not stop her from setting up a good lead until the interval.
After the break, Han continued her killing run in the opening set as she executed powerful shots in all areas of the court and took the opening set with a sensational 21-11 score on the board.
In the second game, Nozomi played competitive badminton as she anticipated the game of her Chinese rival and managed to remain slightly ahead until the mid-game interval.
On the other hand, Han could not continue her dominating performance in the second game. She made a few unforced errors and remained struggling to find her flow.
Han failed to dictate the pace and lost the second game with a four-point deficit of 17-21.
In the deciding set, both ladies played fabulous game as they kept the pace high and also missed no chance to earn points.
The score remained close in the opening half as both shuttlers remained equal on the board.
After the one-minute break, Nozomi tried to take lead by working well at net but failed to get the mark as her opponent was quicker in taking the bird early from net.
The score was equal at the concluding phase of final set when Han showed her brilliance and scored the ending points to win the game with a 21-19 score on the board.
Han emerged as victorious in this entertaining three-set contest in 61 minutes with a margin of 21-11, 17-21 and 21-19.
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