Bao Chunlai to face Nguyen Tien Minh in Men’s Singles quarter-final of the 2011 US Open GP Gold
China’s experienced left-handed shuttler, Bao Chunlai, advanced to meet Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh in the Men’s Singles quarter-final after trouncing Japan’s Keigo Sonoda in the pre-quarter-final of the 2011 US Open GP Gold, in California, on Wednesday,
July 13.
The fifth seed in the event, Chunlai, displayed a superb show by playing high-quality badminton against the Japanese, who was trailing miles behind his opponent in the entire match. The Chinese finished the contest in straight-games, by playing to his full
potential for 37 minutes.
World Number Eleven, Chunlai, remained in complete control of the rallies in both sets of the pre-quarter-final battle. He started the game in his usual composed style and managed a four-point lead until the interval by reaching at 11-7.
In the following half of the opening game, Sonoda tried to catch up the difference of score by playing an aggressive game, but failed to disturb the flow of his rival, who was playing with great precision. Chunlai finished-off the first game with a decent
score of 21-17, in 19 minutes.
The following game of the match was almost identical, as Chunlai was the leader of the set right from the starting points. His perfectly placed cross court smashes and strong pushes made it very hard for the Japanese to become stable on the baseline. The
movement of the Chinese was very smooth, as he moved quite easily everywhere in the court.
Sonoda was struggling throughout the second game, as he was consuming a little more time in returning the bird, which helped Chunlai to maintain good pressure on his challenger. Until the interval, Chunlai was leading the game with a reasonable difference
of 11-7.
After the break, the fifth seed Chinese started to play at the net which earned him high and weak lobs, as he finished-off the rallies by executing powerful smashes. Chunlai won the set in 18 minutes with a five-point difference at 21-16. The ending score
of this fight was 21-17 and 21-16.
In the Men’s Singles quarter-final, Chunlai will take on Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam, who crushed P Kashyap of India in their round-of-16 match.
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