Bao Chunlai crushes Tien Minh to set a final clash against Lee Chong Wei: 2011Malaysia Open GP Gold
China’s Bao Chunlai advances to meet Malaysia’s top seed, Lee Chong Wei, in the Men’s Singles final after crushing Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam in the semi-final of the 2011 Malaysia Open GP Gold, at Alor Setar, Malaysia, on Saturday May 7. The seventh seed,
Chunlai, worked really hard to chuck out the third seed, Tien Minh, in a rubber-set match.
Right from the opening points of the first set, both impressive shuttlers kept the game at the highest speed. Chunlai accelerated his speed and took an advantage of four-point lead at 6-2. Tien Minh was a bit slower and was picking the bird late while the
Chinese was quicker in all areas of the court.
Ten Minh geared up his speed and came at the level of the opponent. He reduced the difference by playing an attacking game and reached at 9-10. Chunlai scored a point and established a two-point difference of 11-9, in the opening half.
After taking a one-minute rest, Chunlai came in the court in an aggressive way and played the best badminton. He quickly reached at 16-9 by scoring five points in a row. The tall Chinese finished the opening set in an impressive fashion by a 21-12 margin,
in 17 minutes.
The second set was more interesting as Tien Minh managed to set up a good lead of 6-2. However, Chunlai changed his tactics and levelled the score by reaching 8-8. The Chinese was ahead at 11-9 in the opening half of the set. Tien Minh levelled the score
at 12-12 by keeping the bird parallel to avoid high clears.
Chunlai made some unforced errors that spared an opportunity for the opponent to take a comfortable lead of 17-12. Tien Minh was playing with his maximum speed in all corners of the court. Chunlai worked better at this stage and managed to narrow the gap
by reaching at 17-19. The Vietnamese played smartly at the end and grabbed the set by 21-19, in 18 minutes.
The final set was the superb fight between the two top shuttlers in the world of Badminton. The score remained equal till 13-13, where the Chinese took control of the game by playing incredibly fast. He finished up the final set in 23 minutes with a 21-14
margin.
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