Elham Saptono stamps Hardi Yuda in opening round of 2013 Nasional Li Ning Jakarta Open
Indonesia’s Elham Saptono relished full benefits of home ground and secured a second round berth by defeating Hardi Yuda S in the opening round of Djarum Sirkuit Nasional Li Ning Jakarta Open on May 15, 2013.
This 55-minute tussle proved a real test for both shuttlers as they had to sweat hard while piling up decisive figures of 21-15, 10-21 and 21-16.
Elham prevailed in the opening and ending segments of this showdown whereas Hardi could serve the notice of his dominance only in the second set.
The battle heated up when Elham launched an intensive attack in the first set and pushed his rival on the back foot. He capitalised this initial advantage in the following rallies and doubled his total in no time.
Hardi Yuda was not prepared for such an intensive invasion as he remained at the lower end in most part of the game.
On the other hand, Elham did not show mercy at any stage and finished first half of the set with a respectable margin. He maintained that upper hand in the latter part of game and registered a winning figure of 21-15.
However, the story was entirely different in the next game as Hardi Yuda showed a transformed character and turned his rival’s plans of straight-set victory into dust.
This time he did not repeat previous mistakes and played with an authoritative approach from very first stroke till the last one.
He put his competitor under huge pressure by placing a mountainous total of 11 before the interval and then doubled the impact with a staggering knock in third quarter of the set.
He maintained a significant difference on points table and won this crucial game with 21-10 score on the board.
The decider became consequential with this development and both contenders challenged each other in all areas of the game to pocket this final match point.
However, Elham showed superior finishing skills and wrapped this segment of the showdown with an impressive result of 21-16.
With this win, he marched into second round where he will lock horns with Paulus Gustina S.
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