Cheng Shao Chieh wins her first silver medal at the recent BWF World Championships
Cheng Shao Chieh of Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) has become country’s first female shuttler to win a silver medal at the 2011 BWF World Championships, held at the Wembley Arena in London, England.
Shao Chieh, who is currently ranked at Number Eight in the world rankings of Women’s Singles, delivered a stunning performance throughout the tournament and established her worth by beating Wang Shixian of China in her way towards the final, where she lost
to another Chinese shuttler, Wang Yihan, who is occupying the second position in the world standings.
While talking about her performance in the final, Shao Chieh admitted by saying, “I did not have the tactics to push through, and I feel I was dictated by Wang's rhythm in the game.”
However, she further added, “But I was not disappointed, because I have gotten better grades than I had expected, and I feel proud to be able to play for Taiwan and win a medal.”
The Women’s Singles final was a straight-set battle between Yihan and Shao Chieh, which took 40 minutes of good badminton. The Taiwanese failed to continue her impressive play against the World Number Two, Yihan and lost to her with a 15-21 and 10-21 margin.
She started the game in an attacking way and quickly established a good lead, but the Chinese shuttler gradually took over by accelerating her speed and won the opening set with a margin of 21-15, in 23 minutes. The speed of Shao Chieh was a little slow
which helped her opponent to put pressure on her by coming fast at the net.
However, the second set was easy for Yihan as Shao Chieh failed to play to her challenger’s pace, as the Chinese was just incredible in her fast movement and perfect play. Due to the slow movement and negative game of Shao Chieh, Yihan got the advantage
and won the second game with the margin of 21-10, in 17 minutes. The match ended with the victory of Yihan, who clinched her first Women’s Singles title.
After the match, Shao Chieh said, “I felt I could be better at today's game. I was sorry! Thanks for all the support. Before I promised I would have new breakthroughs and I made it, and I will take gold medal the next time.”
However, despite of losing the final, Shao Chieh has earned respect from her fans and she is determined to continue her wonderful run in upcoming events which will serve as qualifying tournaments for the 2012 London Olympics. The mega event will be held
next year, at the same Wembley Arena in London.
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