Du Pengyu stuns Chen Long in Men’s Singles semi-final of Badminton Asia Championships
China’s young shuttler Du Pengyu showed a spirited performance as he reached into Men’s Singles final after beating the higher ranked Chen Long in the semi-final showdown at the Badminton Asia Championships 2012 in China, on Saturday, April 21.
The World Number 11 Pengyu, who is the fifth seeded shuttler in the event, stunned the World Number 3 and second seeded Long in a thrilling three-set encounter and entered into his first final in current year.
Pengyu was impressive in his movement and shot selection in the court and he remained successful in beating Long in three games by taking 77 minutes in the court.
On the other hand, Long could not live up to expectations as he got a severe treatment from his lower ranked compatriot and crashed out without showing his fabulous skills.
At the home event of Asia Championships, Pengyu delivered a sensational performance and landed a title berth by beating the favourite Chen Long.
In the first game, both men started it well by keeping the pace at the highest level.
However, it was Long who dominated the pace of rallies and took a reasonable lead until the one-minute break.
After the interval, Pengyu tried to level the score by executing attacking shots but failed to break the rhythm of his higher ranked team-mate.
The fifth seeded Chinese player eventually lost the first set of this semi-final contest with a margin of 17-21.
In the second game, both shuttlers put up spectacular performance as they played attacking badminton with wonderful precision and remained close until the break.
After the interval, Pengyu showed his brilliance when he took over the control by playing positive badminton and bagged the set by a 21-16 score on the board.
In the decider, Pengyu was in full control as he did not spare any room for his higher ranked country-mate and took a good lead until the mid-game interval.
After the break, Pengyu continued playing flawless badminton and took the deciding set with a one-sided score of 21-12. He won this contest with an overall difference of 17-21, 21-16 and 21-12.
In the title match, Pengyu will take on the winner of the second semi-final between Lin Dan and Chen Jin.
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