Chris Coles advances to meet Marcel Reuter in the round of 16 of the Croatian International 2011
England’s Chris Coles brushed aside Sergey Ivlev of Russia in the first round of the Croatian International 2011, in Zagreb on 1 April. Chris had to fight very hard against the Russian in a three-set thrilling battle that took 50 minutes. In the round of
16, the Englishman will be up against the fourth seed Marcel Reuter of Germany who defeated Toby Panty of England in straight sets in the first round of the tournament.
Chris struggled in the first set against the Russian who spared no chance for him to control the rallies. Sergey’s sharp reflexes on both sides of the court and his superb defensive strokes put him ahead of Chris in the entire set. The Russian won the opening
set by a 21-15 margin in 14 minutes.
In the second game, Chris remained focused right from the start and set a three-point lead at the end of the first half of the set by reaching 11-8. After the one-minute-rest, both shuttlers worked hard to take the lead, but no one could manage it, as high
quality play was demonstrated from both sides. The score reached 19-19, as the Russian made crucial mistakes and lost the set, with a 19-21 margin in 17 minutes.
The third set was very entertaining as compared to the previous two games where both players put up a tremendous show by playing best badminton in front of the packed indoor arena. The score remained close from the starting point until 10-10. Both shuttlers
employed every skill they had in their possession to control the game. It was Chris who scored the last point of the opening part of the third set and reached 11-10.
After getting back into action from the one-minute interval, the game progressed in the same fashion and both sides drew towards the end by reaching 18-18. At this crucial stage of the match, the speed of the game became a little slow, as a single mistake
could decide the result of the match. Both shuttlers reached 21-21, as Chris played smart badminton by becoming incredibly fast and earned the remaining points to make it a 23-21 win in 19 minutes. The ending score of the 50-minute match was, 15-21, 21-19
and 23-21.
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