Chinese Taipei Open GP Gold: Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif stuns Tommy Sugiarto in round-of-16 clash
Malaysia’s Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif showed that he has attained a certain level of skills as he secured his berth in Men’s Singles quarter-final after creating an upset in round-of-16 clash when he overpowered his higher ranked challenger Tommy Sugiarto
of Indonesia at Chinese Taipei Open GP Gold 2012 on Thursday, October 4, in Chinese Taipei.
The World Number 49 Arif, who is an un-seeded player in main draw of the tournament, proved that he has got rid of his quivering form and is ready to shine at world stage.
Arif was in spectacular form on court as he played with impressive precision and surprised everyone by registering a comprehensive victory against Sugiarto who was seeded at number four in Men’s Singles main draw of the event.
On the other hand, Sugiarto was stunned with the attacking play of his rival and remained struggling to find a good rhythm.
The Indonesian player could not even execute his powerful smashes in right areas and eventually knelt down to his Malaysian rival with a huge margin on score board.
The first game was interesting when balance of control shifted from one end to the other as both players unleashed their impressive skills from the initial stage.
However, it was the Malaysian player who managed a reasonable gap of 11-9 until the end of opening half.
After the one-minute break, Arif did not let his higher ranked opponent to narrow the gap by playing to his maximum potential and remained successful in taking the first game with a 21-16 score on the board.
In the following set, the World Number 24 Sugiarto was quite helpless against the power and speed of his rival and remained struggling to put up even a meagre resistance.
In the meanwhile, Arif remained aggressive and positive on court and he took a staggering 11-4 lead until the mid-game interval.
After the break, Arif continued his spirited display of attacking badminton and easily won the set with a huge margin of 21-10.
Arif sent Sugiarto packing in a lopsided fashion by finishing up the pre-quarter-final clash in just 33 minutes with a 21-16 and 21-10 score on the board.
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