Chen Long overwhelms Petr Koukal in opening round of 2013 Yonex German Open
China’s ace shuttler Chen Long had a perfect start of Yonex German Open as he thrashed Petr Koukal and marched into the second round of Men’s Singles event on February 26, 2013.
However, it was not an easy win as he had to seat hard for one hour and 14 minutes to read a favourable result of 21-23, 21-15 and 21-18.
World Number two player Chen Long lost the first set but he managed to lock the honour by winning the ending two games.
Though, Petr Koukal had to face an early exit from this prestigious tournament but he earned lot of admiration for putting an honest effort in this hard fought tussle.
He looked completely on song in the opening game of match as he challenged his higher ranked rival in all areas and did not allow him to establish a comfortable lead.
The Czech campaigner played cautiously in the establishing rallies and this passive approach him kept at the lower end. However, he played with an aggressive approach in next couple of rallies and managed to counterbalance the situation.
The game kept swinging between both contenders until the final moments and finally this nerve-racking contest ended when Petr Koukal registered an impressive total of 23-21.
Next game completely changed the scenario as this time Chen Long did not give his opponent even a single chance to proceed and cast him out with a staggering knock.
The Chinese shuttler mounted pressure by ruling the court in the beginning and then doubled the impact by clinching many valuable points in a row.
At the half time, he was in commanding position with a mountainous figure of 11 and this psychological edge helped him in latter part of the game.
Chen Long won second set of the match with an overwhelming score of 21-15 and setup a nerve-racking decider.
Third set proved the best part of match as both shuttlers made every effort to pocket this final match point.
They remained close on the points table but finally Chen Long placed a concluding margin of 21-18. Now he will lock horns with Gabriel Ulldahl in second round of German Open.
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