China’s Chen Jin wins epic battle against Korea’s Lee Hyun Il in German Open Grand Prix Gold 2011
The reigning World Champion, Chen Jin of China, overwhelmed Lee Hyun Il of Korea in the quarter-final battle of the German Open Grand Prix Gold 2011, today at Mulheim, Germany. The second seed Chinese defeated the un-seeded Korean in three sets that took
62 minutes of hard labour from both sides.
The Korean started the tournament as an un-seeded player, and made strong progress throughout the event. In the opening set of the quarter-final match, Lee proved that he is not an easy opponent to beat. Chen Jin was unable to take lead in the entire set.
Right from the start of the opening set, both shuttlers progressed with equal pace till the interval, as the Korean was ahead of the Chinese by a slight margin of 11-10.
After the break, impressive play continued form both sides and the score levelled at 16-16. It was a very entertaining match for the crowd, as the top athletes were competing against each other and the score remained close till the ending points. Long rallies,
straight pushes, tumbling net shots, attacking clears and accurate smashes on the side lines were the strokes that made it a top quality match. The Korean dominated in the end and won the opening set by a 21-18 margin.
Stung by the loss of the first game, the Chinese player became more aggressive in his strokes, as Chen started to play more net shots to take a weak return and he remained successful. He scored many consecutive points on different stages of the game and
levelled the match by winning the second set with a huge difference of 21-11.
In the final set, Chen played superb badminton, as he was dominating the rallies and his spinning net shots troubled the Korean. The Chinese spared no opportunity for Lee to fight back in the game and clinched the deciding set by a clear difference of 21-14.
The final score of this epic battle was 18-21, 21-11 and 21-14.
In the semi-final, Chen will be competing against another Korean player, Sung Hwan Park, who outclassed Chinese Taipei’s Jen Hao Hsu, in straight games.
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