Bae Youn Joo overpowers Lin Wang in an epic quarter-final fight at Australian Open GP Gold
Korea’s young shuttler Bae Youn Joo emerged as the winner in an epic battle against China’s upcoming shuttler Lin Wang in Women’s Singles quarter-final at 2012 Australian Open GP Gold in Australia, on Friday, April 6.
The fifth seed in Women’s Singles draw Youn Joo, who has been placed at number 14 in the world rankings, managed to overpower her in-form Chinese opponent in a breath-taking contest.
The higher ranked Korean put up everything she had in her possession to defeat her lower ranked Chinese rival in a close three-set fight that took sensational performance from both sides for 63 minutes.
On the other hand, Lin played to her maximum potential and troubles her rival. However, she failed to play up to expectations in the ending points of final set and lost the match with a narrow margin on the board.
In the first set, Youn Joo played better badminton and kept an upper hand over her Chinese rival. She was in full control of the pace and established an 11-7 lead until the end of opening half.
After the one-minute break, Youn Joo remained on track as she continued her positive performance in the court and won the opening set in an impressive fashion with a convincing margin of 21-14.
In the second game, the Korean played well in the opening rallies but failed to maintain her dominating position as her opponent also played at the same level this time. Both ladies were neck-to-neck in the court until the mid-game interval.
After the break, they continued playing to their maximum speed and reached at the crucial stage of 21-21 when Youn Joo failed to dictate the pace and lost the game with a 21-23 score on the board.
In the deciding set, both shuttlers engaged the local fans by playing top quality badminton.
They remained fully focused in the opening half and no one could manage a comfortable gap in the first half.
After the break, Youn Joo managed to take a small lead and reached at 20-17 when Lin played smart game and saved three match points by reaching at 20-20.
However, it was the higher ranked Youn Joo who controlled her nerves at this breath-taking stage and managed to win the set with a dramatic score of 23-21.
The Korean won this 63-minute nail-biting contest with a thrilling 21-14, 21-23 and 23-21 margin on the board.
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