Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng win Men’s Doubles round-of-16 match at the China Masters Super Series
Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, the top shuttlers of China, cleared the severe test in the Men’s Doubles round-of-16 contest against Korea’s Ki Jung Kim and Baek Choel Shin at the 2011 China Masters Super Series, in China, on Thursday, September 15.
World Number One pair of Cai and Fu have recently been crowned as World Champions as they clinched the Men’s Doubles title at last month’s World Championships. They are the top seeds in the Men’s Doubles draw of China Masters. However, their performance
against the Koreans was not good as they remained lucky in winning the match in three games.
The Chinese pair opened their campaign against the un-seeded Korean shuttlers in a relaxed way and their speed was also slow as compared to the Koreans. Ki Jung and Baek Choel took an early lead of 7-4 by playing fast and controlled badminton. Until the
interval, the Koreans were ahead at 11-9.
After the break, the Chinese shuttlers levelled the score by reaching 12-12. However, the Koreans stunned the top seeds by scoring five consecutive points and reached at 17-12. Cai and Fu failed to bridge this huge gap and lost the opening set with the margin
of 15-21.
The following game was also wonderful as both pairs remained close until the interval. The Chinese shuttlers were ahead of their opponents in this game. Cai and Fu played better badminton in this set and remained in control of the rallies. They won the second
game with a narrow margin of 21-19.
The final game of this thrilling fight was breath-taking for the local crowd as both pairs progressed without securing a big lead. Until the break, Cai and Fu were leading the set by reaching 11-9. After the interval, the top seeds progressed well by playing
positive badminton and created a four-point gap at 18-14, which was then reduced by the Koreans who reached at 19-20.
The Chinese shuttlers remained lucky in the end as they score the finishing point and clinched the third set by a 21-19 margin. They won the round-of-16 match in three games by taking 56 minutes with a margin of 15-21, 21-19 and 21-19.
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