Croatian International 2012: Kana Ito stuns Neslihan Yigit to claim Women’s Singles title
Japan’s young player Kana Ito surprised the world as she claimed Women’s Singles title after delivering a stunning performance against Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit in the final showdown of Croatian International 2012 in Croatia, on Sunday, March 11.
The un-seeded Kana, who started her campaign in the tournament as a qualifier, surprised everyone by turning into title winner. She crushed the fifth seed Neslihan in straight games without facing any trouble.
Neslihan was the favourite to win the final contest as she was higher ranked in the tournament and no one was expecting her to lose against an un-seeded opponent. However, she could not overpower the spirited Kana and lost the title match without taking
even a single set.
In the opening set, both ladies started their run in a positive and fast way. They played attacking badminton and also kept the tempo of rallies at the maximum level.
Neslihan was employing powerful smashes while Kana was relying on her net play and fast pushes. The score remained tight until the end of first half in the opening set.
However, Kana started to control the pace of rallies after the one-minute break as she increased her speed and disturbed the flow of her rival.
On the other hand, Neslihan could not live up to expectations at this crucial stage as she failed to dominate the pace of rallies and remained struggling.
The young Japanese remained positive and ended the first set with a three-point difference of 21-18.
In the second game, Neslihan played quivering badminton in the opening rallies as she could not control the pace and also executed many negative shots.
In the meanwhile, Kana found a good rhythm and took a reasonable lead until the one-minute interval.
After the break, the Japanese continued playing remarkable badminton and did not drop her speed at any stage in the game.
Kana was focused and positive in throughout the game and bagged the second set with a 21-15 score on the board.
The lower ranked Japanese clinched the first title of her professional career by winning the final contest with a 21-18 and 21-15 score on the board.
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